Horizon Investments LLC Buys New Holdings in Encore Capital Group Inc $ECPG

Horizon Investments LLC bought a new stake in Encore Capital Group Inc (NASDAQ:ECPG) during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm bought 11,808 shares of the asset manager’s stock, valued at approximately $642,000. Horizon Investments LLC owned about 0.05% of Encore Capital Group at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. SG Americas Securities LLC boosted its position in shares of Encore Capital Group by 0.5% in the fourth quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC now owns 66,825 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $3,632,000 after buying an additional 326 shares during the period. Rhumbline Advisers raised its holdings in shares of Encore Capital Group by 0.5% during the 3rd quarter. Rhumbline Advisers now owns 70,836 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $2,957,000 after buying an additional 367 shares during the period. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. lifted its position in Encore Capital Group by 4.6% during the 1st 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 in the last quarter. Sei Investments Co. lifted its position in Encore Capital Group by 3.5% during the 3rd quarter. Sei Investments Co. now owns 27,166 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $1,134,000 after acquiring an additional 921 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Tower Research Capital LLC TRC boosted its holdings in 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 acquiring an additional 1,706 shares during the period.

Insider Activity

In other Encore Capital Group news, insider Ryan B. Bell sold 7,240 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, March 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $69.04, for a total value 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 represents a 13.07% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. 2.54% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several analysts have issued reports on the stock. 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. Zacks Research cut shares of Encore Capital Group from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Monday, April 27th. Northland Securities set a $70.00 price target on shares of Encore Capital Group in a report on Thursday, January 22nd. Citigroup reaffirmed an “outperform” rating on shares of Encore Capital Group in a research note on Thursday. Finally, Wall Street Zen lowered shares of Encore Capital Group from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Saturday. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and two have given a Hold rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $86.25.

Encore Capital Group Price Performance

ECPG stock opened at $83.88 on Friday. The stock’s 50 day moving average is $73.99 and its two-hundred day moving average is $60.15. Encore Capital Group Inc has a 52-week low of $35.67 and a 52-week high of $92.64. The company has a market capitalization of $1.80 billion, a PE ratio of 6.51 and a beta of 1.33. The company has a quick ratio of 0.68, a current ratio of 0.90 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.90.

Encore Capital Group (NASDAQ:ECPG) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, May 6th. The asset manager reported $3.86 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.02 by $0.84. Encore Capital Group had a return on equity of 30.70% and a net margin of 16.00%.The company had revenue of $475.41 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $446.26 million. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $1.93 EPS. Encore Capital Group’s quarterly revenue was up 21.0% on a year-over-year basis. Encore Capital Group has set its FY 2026 guidance at 13.000-13.000 EPS. Analysts predict that Encore Capital Group Inc will post 13.02 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Encore Capital Group 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.