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

Shares of Encore Capital Group Inc (NASDAQ:ECPG) have received a consensus recommendation of “Moderate Buy” from the five brokerages that are covering the stock, MarketBeat Ratings reports. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. The average 1-year target price among brokerages that have issued ratings on the stock in the last year is $61.6667.

Several equities analysts recently weighed in on ECPG shares. Wall Street Zen lowered shares of Encore Capital Group from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Sunday, November 16th. Weiss Ratings reissued a “sell (d-)” rating on shares of Encore Capital Group in a research note on Wednesday, October 8th. Janney Montgomery Scott lifted their price objective on Encore Capital Group from $56.00 to $62.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, November 6th. Finally, Zacks Research upgraded Encore Capital Group from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Friday, October 10th.

Insider Activity

In related news, Director Laura Olle sold 1,423 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, December 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $52.79, for a total value of $75,120.17. Following the sale, the director directly owned 35,024 shares in the company, valued at $1,848,916.96. This trade represents a 3.90% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, insider John Yung sold 1,000 shares of Encore Capital Group stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, November 26th. The stock was sold at an average price of $52.00, for a total transaction of $52,000.00. Following the transaction, the insider directly owned 56,609 shares in the company, valued at $2,943,668. The trade was a 1.74% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Insiders sold a total of 4,923 shares of company stock valued at $264,620 in the last ninety days. 2.63% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in ECPG. Public Sector Pension Investment Board raised its position in shares of Encore Capital Group by 27.3% during the first quarter. Public Sector Pension Investment Board now owns 75,095 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $2,574,000 after purchasing an additional 16,096 shares during the period. American Century Companies Inc. increased its stake in Encore Capital Group by 13.1% during the 1st quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 51,985 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $1,782,000 after purchasing an additional 6,040 shares in the last quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP raised its holdings in Encore Capital Group by 13.0% during the 1st quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 790,392 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $27,095,000 after buying an additional 91,019 shares during the period. Hsbc Holdings PLC raised its holdings in Encore Capital Group by 244.8% during the 1st quarter. Hsbc Holdings PLC now owns 17,428 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $600,000 after buying an additional 12,373 shares during the period. Finally, EntryPoint Capital LLC lifted its stake in Encore Capital Group by 147.1% in the first quarter. EntryPoint Capital LLC now owns 13,849 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $475,000 after buying an additional 8,244 shares in the last quarter.

Encore Capital Group Price Performance

Shares of ECPG stock opened at $54.52 on Wednesday. The firm has a market cap of $1.22 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -29.79 and a beta of 1.48. Encore Capital Group has a 12 month low of $26.45 and a 12 month high of $56.67. The company has a quick ratio of 0.66, a current ratio of 0.66 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 4.13. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $48.34 and a 200 day moving average price of $43.37.

Encore Capital Group (NASDAQ:ECPG) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, November 5th. The asset manager reported $3.17 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.92 by $1.25. Encore Capital Group had a negative net margin of 2.89% and a positive return on equity of 25.27%. The company had revenue of $460.35 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $410.70 million. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $1.26 EPS. The company’s revenue was up 25.4% compared to the same quarter last year. Research analysts expect that Encore Capital Group will post 5.09 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.