Encore Capital Group Inc (NASDAQ:ECPG) Given Average Rating of “Moderate Buy” by Brokerages

Shares of Encore Capital Group Inc (NASDAQ:ECPG) have been assigned an average recommendation of “Moderate Buy” from the six research firms that are covering the company, Marketbeat Ratings reports. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and four have given a buy rating to the company. The average twelve-month target price among brokerages that have issued ratings on the stock in the last year is $80.50.

A number of equities analysts have recently weighed in on ECPG shares. Citigroup reissued an “outperform” rating on shares of Encore Capital Group in a research report on Tuesday, January 20th. Wall Street Zen raised shares of Encore Capital Group from a “buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Saturday, April 18th. Zacks Research cut shares of Encore Capital Group from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Monday. Citizens Jmp lifted their price target on shares of Encore Capital Group from $75.00 to $90.00 and gave the stock a “market outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 26th. Finally, Weiss Ratings raised shares of Encore Capital Group from a “sell (d-)” rating to a “hold (c-)” rating in a research report on Friday, February 27th.

Insider Buying and Selling at Encore Capital Group

In other news, insider Ryan B. Bell sold 7,240 shares of Encore Capital Group stock in a transaction on Monday, March 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $69.04, for a total transaction of $499,849.60. Following the transaction, the insider directly owned 48,170 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,325,656.80. This trade represents a 13.07% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. 2.63% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Encore Capital Group

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in ECPG. Royal Bank of Canada raised its holdings in shares of Encore Capital Group by 97.9% during the first quarter. Royal Bank of Canada now owns 33,620 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $1,153,000 after acquiring an additional 16,634 shares during the period. AQR Capital Management LLC raised its holdings in shares of Encore Capital Group by 263.0% during the first quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 68,860 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $2,361,000 after acquiring an additional 49,892 shares during the period. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. raised its holdings in shares of Encore Capital Group by 4.6% during the first quarter. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. now owns 13,929 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $477,000 after acquiring an additional 612 shares during the period. Empowered Funds LLC raised its holdings in shares of Encore Capital Group by 2.0% during the first quarter. Empowered Funds LLC now owns 90,910 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $3,116,000 after acquiring an additional 1,806 shares during the period. Finally, UBS AM A Distinct Business Unit of UBS Asset Management Americas LLC raised its holdings in shares of Encore Capital Group by 7.8% during the first quarter. UBS AM A Distinct Business Unit of UBS Asset Management Americas LLC now owns 78,465 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $2,690,000 after acquiring an additional 5,672 shares during the period.

Encore Capital Group Price Performance

Shares of ECPG stock opened at $81.93 on Thursday. Encore Capital Group has a 52-week low of $32.27 and a 52-week high of $85.42. The stock has a market cap of $1.75 billion, a PE ratio of 7.48 and a beta of 1.26. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 4.10, a quick ratio of 0.68 and a current ratio of 0.68. The firm’s 50 day moving average price is $71.94 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $58.90.

Encore Capital Group (NASDAQ:ECPG) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, February 25th. The asset manager reported $3.37 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.20 by $1.17. The company had revenue of $473.55 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $423.14 million. Encore Capital Group had a net margin of 14.52% and a return on equity of 28.19%. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 78.3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the firm posted ($9.42) earnings per share. As a group, analysts forecast that Encore Capital Group will post 11.97 EPS for the current 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.