Cookson Peirce & Co. Inc. Makes New Investment in Encore Capital Group Inc $ECPG

Cookson Peirce & Co. Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Encore Capital Group Inc (NASDAQ:ECPG) in the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The institutional investor purchased 16,553 shares of the asset manager’s stock, valued at approximately $1,544,000.

A number of other hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in ECPG. IFP Advisors Inc raised its stake in shares of Encore Capital Group by 1,729.6% in the 4th quarter. IFP Advisors Inc now owns 494 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $27,000 after acquiring an additional 467 shares in the last quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC boosted its position in Encore Capital Group by 185.7% during the fourth quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 717 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $39,000 after purchasing an additional 466 shares during the period. USA Financial Formulas bought a new stake in Encore Capital Group during the first quarter worth approximately $46,000. Allworth Financial LP grew its holdings in Encore Capital Group by 29.1% during the fourth quarter. Allworth Financial LP now owns 1,139 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $62,000 after purchasing an additional 257 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Public Employees Retirement System of Ohio acquired a new position in Encore Capital Group during the second quarter valued at approximately $89,000.

Encore Capital Group Price Performance

Shares of Encore Capital Group stock opened at $98.94 on Monday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.87, a quick ratio of 0.96 and a current ratio of 0.96. The firm’s 50-day simple moving average is $94.05 and its 200-day simple moving average is $81.34. Encore Capital Group Inc has a twelve month low of $39.94 and a twelve month high of $104.98. The firm has a market cap of $2.10 billion, a P/E ratio of 7.49 and a beta of 1.27.

Encore Capital Group (NASDAQ:ECPG) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, August 5th. The asset manager reported $2.81 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.67 by $0.14. The business had revenue of $491.87 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $455.10 million. Encore Capital Group had a net margin of 15.86% and a return on equity of 29.83%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 11.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $2.49 earnings per share. Encore Capital Group has set its FY 2026 guidance at 13.000-14.000 EPS. As a group, research analysts expect that Encore Capital Group Inc will post 13.52 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity

In related news, insider John Yung sold 2,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, June 10th. The stock was sold at an average price of $82.08, for a total transaction of $164,160.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider owned 64,570 shares in the company, valued at $5,299,905.60. This trade represents a 3.00% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Insiders own 3.00% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of analysts have recently weighed in on ECPG shares. Citizens Jmp boosted their price objective on shares of Encore Capital Group from $108.00 to $115.00 and gave the stock a “market outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, June 17th. Weiss Ratings upgraded shares of Encore Capital Group from a “hold (c)” rating to a “buy (b-)” rating in a research note on Monday, August 3rd. Zacks Research upgraded shares of Encore Capital Group from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Friday, August 7th. Citigroup reissued a “market outperform” rating on shares of Encore Capital Group in a research report on Tuesday, August 11th. Finally, Wall Street Zen downgraded Encore Capital Group from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Saturday, May 9th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating and five have assigned a Buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Buy” and a consensus target price of $89.75.

Encore Capital Group Company Profile

Encore Capital Group, Inc is a global specialty finance company that focuses on the purchase and management of nonperforming consumer receivables. Through its subsidiaries, the company acquires charged-off debt portfolios from credit card issuers, banks, and other financial institutions, and seeks to recover outstanding balances through a combination of customer outreach, payment arrangements, and, where appropriate, legal collection efforts. Encore’s business model emphasizes compliance with regulatory and industry standards to ensure ethical and transparent debt-recovery practices.

Headquartered in San Diego, California, Encore operates across North America and Europe.