Zacks Research Upgrades Encore Capital Group (NASDAQ:ECPG) to Strong-Buy

Encore Capital Group (NASDAQ:ECPG) was upgraded by stock analysts at Zacks Research from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note issued on Tuesday,Zacks.com reports.

A number of other analysts have also issued reports on ECPG. Citigroup reiterated an “outperform” rating on shares of Encore Capital Group in a research note on Thursday, May 7th. Citizens Jmp lifted their price objective on shares of Encore Capital Group from $90.00 to $108.00 and gave the company a “market outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, May 7th. Wall Street Zen lowered shares of Encore Capital Group from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Saturday, May 9th. Weiss Ratings upgraded shares of Encore Capital Group from a “hold (c)” rating to a “hold (c+)” rating in a research note on Monday, May 11th. Finally, Truist Financial lifted their price objective on shares of Encore Capital Group from $100.00 to $105.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, May 7th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, four have given a Buy rating and one has given a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Buy” and an average target price of $86.25.

Encore Capital Group Trading Up 0.4%

NASDAQ ECPG opened at $81.85 on Tuesday. Encore Capital Group has a one year low of $35.67 and a one year high of $92.64. The company’s 50 day moving average price is $77.65 and its 200 day moving average price is $63.91. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.90, a quick ratio of 0.90 and a current ratio of 0.90. The firm has a market capitalization of $1.75 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 6.35 and a beta of 1.33.

Encore Capital Group (NASDAQ:ECPG) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, May 6th. The asset manager reported $3.86 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $3.02 by $0.84. The firm had revenue of $475.41 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $446.26 million. Encore Capital Group had a net margin of 16.00% and a return on equity of 30.70%. Encore Capital Group’s revenue for the quarter was up 21.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $1.93 earnings per share. Encore Capital Group has set its FY 2026 guidance at 13.000-13.000 EPS. On average, sell-side analysts predict that Encore Capital Group will post 13.01 EPS for the current year.

Insider Activity

In related 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 value of $499,849.60. Following the completion of the sale, the insider owned 48,170 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,325,656.80. The trade was a 13.07% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Company insiders own 3.00% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Encore Capital Group

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. IFP Advisors Inc increased its stake in shares of Encore Capital Group by 1,729.6% in the fourth quarter. IFP Advisors Inc now owns 494 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $27,000 after buying an additional 467 shares during the last quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC increased its stake in shares of Encore Capital Group by 185.7% in the fourth quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 717 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $39,000 after buying an additional 466 shares during the last quarter. Allworth Financial LP increased its stake in shares of Encore Capital Group by 29.1% in 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 during the last quarter. LSV Asset Management bought a new stake in shares of Encore Capital Group in the third quarter worth $88,000. Finally, Tower Research Capital LLC TRC increased its stake 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 buying an additional 1,706 shares during the last quarter.

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.