Key Points
- Insider sale: Director Ryan Bell sold 7,240 shares on March 2 at an average price of $69.04 for about $499,850, cutting his stake by 13.07% to 48,170 shares valued at roughly $3.33M (SEC filing).
- Strong quarter: Encore beat estimates with quarterly EPS of $3.37 versus $2.20 expected and revenue of $473.6M (up 78.3% YoY), with a 28.19% return on equity and analysts projecting about $5.09 EPS for the fiscal year.
- Analyst sentiment: The consensus rating is "Buy" with an average price target of $75.50, and several firms recently raised targets (e.g., Truist to $80, Citizens JMP to $90) while one upgraded the stock to "Strong-Buy."
Encore Capital Group Inc (NASDAQ:ECPG - Get Free Report) insider Ryan Bell sold 7,240 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred 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 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 transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink.
Encore Capital Group Stock Performance
Shares of Encore Capital Group stock traded down $2.02 on Thursday, reaching $71.73. 15,322 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 208,543. The firm has a market cap of $1.54 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 6.54 and a beta of 1.35. Encore Capital Group Inc has a 1-year low of $26.45 and a 1-year high of $74.58. 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 company's 50-day moving average is $57.65 and its two-hundred day moving average is $50.19.
Encore Capital Group (NASDAQ:ECPG - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, February 25th. The asset manager reported $3.37 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $2.20 by $1.17. Encore Capital Group had a return on equity of 28.19% and a net margin of 14.52%.The firm had revenue of $473.55 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $423.14 million. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned ($9.42) EPS. The firm's revenue was up 78.3% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, research analysts expect that Encore Capital Group Inc will post 5.09 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.
Institutional Trading of Encore Capital Group
A number of institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in ECPG. Nisa Investment Advisors LLC bought a new position in shares of Encore Capital Group in the second quarter valued at approximately $27,000. IFP Advisors Inc lifted its position in 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 purchasing an additional 467 shares during the period. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC lifted its position in 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 purchasing an additional 466 shares during the period. Allworth Financial LP boosted its stake in Encore Capital Group by 29.1% during the 4th quarter. Allworth Financial LP now owns 1,139 shares of the asset manager's stock valued at $62,000 after purchasing an additional 257 shares in the last quarter. Finally, LSV Asset Management acquired a new position in shares of Encore Capital Group during the 3rd quarter valued at $88,000.
Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth
Several brokerages recently weighed in on ECPG. Northland Securities set a $70.00 price objective on shares of Encore Capital Group in a research report on Thursday, January 22nd. Truist Financial upped their target price on shares of Encore Capital Group from $59.00 to $80.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research report on Thursday, February 26th. Janney Montgomery Scott lifted their price target on Encore Capital Group from $56.00 to $62.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a report on Thursday, November 6th. Citizens Jmp boosted their price objective on 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, Wall Street Zen raised Encore Capital Group from a "buy" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a report on Saturday, February 28th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, four have issued a Buy rating and one has given a Hold rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Encore Capital Group has a consensus rating of "Buy" and an average price target of $75.50.
Read Our Latest Research Report on ECPG
About Encore Capital Group
(
Get Free Report)
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.
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