Citizens Jmp Issues Positive Forecast for Encore Capital Group (NASDAQ:ECPG) Stock Price

Encore Capital Group (NASDAQ:ECPG) had its target price increased by Citizens Jmp from $59.00 to $75.00 in a research note published on Tuesday morning,Benzinga reports. The brokerage currently has a market outperform rating on the asset manager’s stock.

Several other analysts also recently commented on the stock. Wall Street Zen downgraded shares of Encore Capital Group from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Sunday, November 16th. Janney Montgomery Scott upped their price objective on shares of Encore Capital Group from $56.00 to $62.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, November 6th. Citigroup reiterated an “outperform” rating on shares of Encore Capital Group in a research note on Tuesday. Weiss Ratings restated a “sell (d-)” rating on shares of Encore Capital Group in a research note on Wednesday, October 8th. Finally, Zacks Research lowered Encore Capital Group from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Monday, January 5th. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, one has issued a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $64.67.

Encore Capital Group Stock Down 1.9%

ECPG stock opened at $55.15 on Tuesday. The firm has a market capitalization of $1.23 billion, a PE ratio of -30.14 and a beta of 1.45. The company has a quick ratio of 0.66, a current ratio of 0.66 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 4.13. Encore Capital Group has a twelve month low of $26.45 and a twelve month high of $57.81. The stock’s 50 day moving average is $53.50 and its 200-day moving average is $45.93.

Encore Capital Group (NASDAQ:ECPG) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, November 5th. The asset manager reported $3.17 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.92 by $1.25. Encore Capital Group had a positive return on equity of 25.27% and a negative net margin of 2.89%.The business had revenue of $460.35 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $410.70 million. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $1.26 EPS. Encore Capital Group’s quarterly revenue was up 25.4% compared to the same quarter last year. Sell-side analysts expect that Encore Capital Group will post 5.09 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Transactions at Encore Capital Group

In other Encore Capital Group news, Director Laura Olle sold 1,423 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, December 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $52.79, for a total transaction of $75,120.17. Following the completion of the transaction, the director directly owned 35,024 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,848,916.96. This represents a 3.90% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, insider John Yung sold 1,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, November 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $52.00, for a total value of $52,000.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider owned 56,609 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,943,668. The trade was a 1.74% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Insiders sold a total of 4,923 shares of company stock worth $264,620 in the last quarter. Insiders own 2.63% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in ECPG. Campbell & CO Investment Adviser LLC purchased a new stake in Encore Capital Group during the second quarter valued at about $371,000. Stephens Investment Management Group LLC raised its position in shares of Encore Capital Group by 4.8% in the third quarter. Stephens Investment Management Group LLC now owns 1,308,252 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $54,606,000 after purchasing an additional 59,421 shares during the period. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. purchased a new stake in shares of Encore Capital Group during the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $698,000. Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its stake in shares of Encore Capital Group by 2.5% during the 2nd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 583,148 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $22,577,000 after buying an additional 14,353 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Versor Investments LP bought a new position in Encore Capital Group in the 2nd quarter worth approximately $353,000.

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.