Encore Capital Group Inc (NASDAQ:ECPG) Given Average Recommendation of “Buy” by Analysts

Encore Capital Group Inc (NASDAQ:ECPG) has earned an average recommendation of “Buy” from the six research firms that are covering the stock, MarketBeat reports. One analyst has rated the stock with a hold recommendation, four have issued a buy recommendation and one has issued a strong buy recommendation on the company. The average twelve-month target price among analysts that have issued a report on the stock in the last year is $75.50.

Several equities research analysts have recently commented on ECPG shares. Zacks Research raised Encore Capital Group from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Friday, February 27th. Citizens Jmp raised their price objective on Encore Capital Group from $75.00 to $90.00 and gave the company a “market outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 26th. Citigroup reaffirmed an “outperform” rating on shares of Encore Capital Group in a report on Tuesday, January 20th. Northland Securities set a $70.00 target price on Encore Capital Group in a report on Thursday, January 22nd. Finally, Wall Street Zen upgraded Encore Capital Group from a “buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Saturday, February 28th.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Encore Capital Group news, insider Ryan B. Bell sold 7,240 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, March 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $69.04, for a total transaction of $499,849.60. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider directly owned 48,170 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,325,656.80. This trade represents a 13.07% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Company insiders own 2.63% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Encore Capital Group

Several large investors have recently modified their holdings of ECPG. IFP Advisors Inc raised its position in shares of Encore Capital Group by 1,729.6% during the 4th quarter. IFP Advisors Inc now owns 494 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $27,000 after purchasing an additional 467 shares during the last quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC grew its holdings in Encore Capital Group by 185.7% during the 4th quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 717 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $39,000 after buying an additional 466 shares during the last quarter. Allworth Financial LP increased its position 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 worth $62,000 after buying an additional 257 shares in the last quarter. LSV Asset Management purchased a new position in Encore Capital Group during the third quarter worth $88,000. Finally, Tower Research Capital LLC TRC raised its holdings in shares of Encore Capital Group by 168.9% in the second quarter. Tower Research Capital LLC TRC now owns 2,716 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $105,000 after acquiring an additional 1,706 shares during the last quarter.

Encore Capital Group Stock Performance

Shares of ECPG opened at $67.82 on Wednesday. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $58.81 and a 200-day simple moving average of $51.05. The company has a quick ratio of 0.68, a current ratio of 0.68 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 4.10. The company has a market capitalization of $1.45 billion, a PE ratio of 6.19 and a beta of 1.35. Encore Capital Group has a 52-week low of $26.45 and a 52-week high of $74.58.

Encore Capital Group (NASDAQ:ECPG) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, February 25th. The asset manager reported $3.37 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.20 by $1.17. Encore Capital Group had a net margin of 14.52% and a return on equity of 28.19%. The firm had revenue of $473.55 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $423.14 million. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned ($9.42) earnings per share. The firm’s revenue was up 78.3% on a year-over-year basis. Equities research analysts predict that Encore Capital Group will post 5.09 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

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.