Analysts Set Encore Capital Group Inc (NASDAQ:ECPG) PT at $59.50

Encore Capital Group Inc (NASDAQ:ECPG) has been assigned an average recommendation of “Moderate Buy” from the six analysts that are presently covering the firm, Marketbeat reports. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell recommendation, one has issued a hold recommendation and four have issued a buy recommendation on the company. The average 1 year price objective among analysts that have updated their coverage on the stock in the last year is $66.00.

Several brokerages recently weighed in on ECPG. Weiss Ratings reissued a “sell (d-)” rating on shares of Encore Capital Group in a research report on Wednesday, October 8th. Citigroup reiterated an “outperform” rating on shares of Encore Capital Group in a research note on Tuesday. Citizens Jmp boosted their price target on Encore Capital Group from $59.00 to $75.00 and gave the stock a “market outperform” rating in a research note on Tuesday. Janney Montgomery Scott increased their price objective on Encore Capital Group from $56.00 to $62.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, November 6th. Finally, Zacks Research downgraded Encore Capital Group from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Monday, January 5th.

Encore Capital Group Price Performance

ECPG opened at $56.22 on Tuesday. The firm has a market cap of $1.25 billion, a PE ratio of -30.72 and a beta of 1.45. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $53.79 and a 200-day moving average price of $46.07. Encore Capital Group has a 1 year low of $26.45 and a 1 year high of $57.81. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 4.13, a current ratio of 0.66 and a quick ratio of 0.66.

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

Insider Transactions at Encore Capital Group

In other news, insider John Yung sold 1,000 shares of Encore Capital Group stock in a transaction that occurred 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 directly owned 56,609 shares in the company, valued at $2,943,668. The trade was a 1.74% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, insider Ryan B. Bell sold 2,500 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, December 10th. The shares were sold at an average price of $55.00, for a total transaction of $137,500.00. Following the transaction, the insider owned 55,410 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,047,550. This trade represents a 4.32% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Insiders sold 4,923 shares of company stock worth $264,620 over the last three months. 2.54% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Encore Capital Group

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the company. Nisa Investment Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in Encore Capital Group during the second quarter valued at $27,000. GAMMA Investing LLC grew its stake in shares of Encore Capital Group by 345.1% during the 2nd quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 819 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $32,000 after purchasing an additional 635 shares during the period. LSV Asset Management purchased a new stake in shares of Encore Capital Group during the 3rd quarter valued at about $88,000. Tower Research Capital LLC TRC lifted its stake in shares of Encore Capital Group by 168.9% in the 2nd quarter. Tower Research Capital LLC TRC now owns 2,716 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $105,000 after purchasing an additional 1,706 shares during the period. Finally, Virtus Advisers LLC bought a new position in shares of Encore Capital Group in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $143,000.

About Encore Capital Group

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.