Northland Securities Has Optimistic View of ECPG Q1 Earnings

Encore Capital Group Inc (NASDAQ:ECPG) – Equities research analysts at Northland Securities upped their Q1 2026 earnings estimates for shares of Encore Capital Group in a research note issued on Wednesday, February 25th. Northland Securities analyst M. Grondahl now expects that the asset manager will earn $2.80 per share for the quarter, up from their prior estimate of $2.00. The consensus estimate for Encore Capital Group’s current full-year earnings is $5.09 per share. Northland Securities also issued estimates for Encore Capital Group’s Q2 2026 earnings at $3.04 EPS, Q3 2026 earnings at $3.00 EPS, Q4 2026 earnings at $3.15 EPS and FY2026 earnings at $12.00 EPS.

Other equities analysts have also recently issued reports about the company. Wall Street Zen raised Encore Capital Group from a “buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Saturday. Weiss Ratings upgraded Encore Capital Group from a “sell (d-)” rating to a “hold (c-)” rating in a report on Friday. Zacks Research cut shares of Encore Capital Group from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Monday, January 5th. Citigroup reissued an “outperform” rating on shares of Encore Capital Group in a research report on Tuesday, January 20th. Finally, Citizens Jmp increased their price target on Encore Capital Group from $75.00 to $90.00 and gave the company a “market outperform” rating in a report on Thursday. Four analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and two have assigned a Hold rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $75.50.

Encore Capital Group Price Performance

ECPG stock opened at $68.29 on Monday. The stock’s 50 day moving average price is $56.62 and its 200 day moving average price is $49.59. The firm has a market cap of $1.46 billion, a P/E ratio of 6.23 and a beta of 1.35. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 4.10, a quick ratio of 0.68 and a current ratio of 0.68. Encore Capital Group has a 1 year low of $26.45 and a 1 year high of $68.75.

Encore Capital Group (NASDAQ:ECPG) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, February 25th. The asset manager reported $3.37 earnings per share (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 company had revenue of $473.55 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $423.14 million. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted ($9.42) earnings per share. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 78.3% compared to the same quarter last year.

Insider Transactions at Encore Capital Group

In other news, Director Laura Olle sold 1,423 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, December 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $52.79, for a total transaction of $75,120.17. Following the transaction, the director owned 35,024 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,848,916.96. This trade represents a 3.90% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, insider Ryan B. Bell sold 2,500 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, December 10th. The stock was sold at an average price of $55.00, for a total value of $137,500.00. Following the transaction, the insider directly owned 55,410 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,047,550. This represents a 4.32% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Corporate insiders own 2.63% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in ECPG. Virtu Financial LLC acquired a new position in shares of Encore Capital Group during the fourth quarter valued at $201,000. Mercer Global Advisors Inc. ADV boosted its holdings in shares of Encore Capital Group by 76.5% in the fourth quarter. Mercer Global Advisors Inc. ADV now owns 9,053 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $492,000 after acquiring an additional 3,924 shares in the last quarter. Empowered Funds LLC increased its position in shares of Encore Capital Group by 4.0% during the 4th quarter. Empowered Funds LLC now owns 102,502 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $5,571,000 after purchasing an additional 3,951 shares during the period. XTX Topco Ltd grew its holdings in Encore Capital Group by 18.2% during the fourth quarter. XTX Topco Ltd now owns 6,915 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $376,000 after acquiring an additional 1,063 shares during the period. Finally, VARCOV Co. acquired a new position in shares of Encore Capital Group in the 4th quarter worth approximately $599,000.

Key Stories Impacting Encore Capital Group

Here are the key news stories impacting Encore Capital Group this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Big Q4 beat: Encore reported $3.37 GAAP EPS vs. $2.20 consensus and revenue of $473.6M vs. $423.1M, with revenue up ~78% y/y — evidence of accelerating core performance that supports valuation re‑rating. MarketBeat Q4 Earnings
• Positive Sentiment: Very strong FY‑2026 guidance: Management set EPS guidance at $12.00 for FY‑2026 (consensus ~$8.76), signaling materially higher earnings power and margin leverage going forward — a primary driver of the rally. Seeking Alpha Guidance
• Positive Sentiment: Analyst upgrades / price‑target raises: Citizens Jmp raised its PT to $90 (market outperform) and Truist raised its PT to $80 (buy), reflecting renewed analyst confidence and providing upward price momentum. Benzinga PT Raises
• Positive Sentiment: Management growth plans: Encore expects ~10% EPS growth to $12 in 2026 and is targeting $1.4B–$1.5B in portfolio purchases — indicating management is accelerating asset acquisition to sustain future revenue and earnings growth. Earnings Presentation
• Neutral Sentiment: Investor materials available: Full earnings slide deck and the Q4 earnings call transcript are published (useful for modeling and Q&A details). Earnings Transcript

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.