Encore Capital Group, Inc. (NASDAQ:ECPG) Receives Average Rating of “Buy” from Brokerages

Encore Capital Group, Inc. (NASDAQ:ECPG) has been assigned a consensus rating of “Buy” from the four analysts that are covering the company, Marketbeat.com reports. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. The average 1 year price objective among brokers that have issued ratings on the stock in the last year is $62.67.

A number of equities analysts have commented on ECPG shares. Truist Financial reduced their price objective on Encore Capital Group from $64.00 to $57.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, February 27th. Northland Securities boosted their price objective on Encore Capital Group from $58.00 to $66.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Monday, December 23rd. Finally, StockNews.com lowered Encore Capital Group from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, February 28th.

Insider Transactions at Encore Capital Group

In other news, CEO Ashish Masih bought 20,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, March 5th. The stock was bought at an average price of $35.14 per share, for a total transaction of $702,800.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 322,254 shares in the company, valued at $11,324,005.56. The trade was a 6.62 % increase in their position. The acquisition was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, Director Ashwini Gupta bought 40,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, March 5th. The shares were purchased at an average price of $35.10 per share, with a total value of $1,404,000.00. Following the transaction, the director now owns 96,909 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,401,505.90. The trade was a 70.29 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. 2.63% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Encore Capital Group

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Huntington National Bank increased its holdings in Encore Capital Group by 8,700.0% in the third quarter. Huntington National Bank now owns 528 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $25,000 after purchasing an additional 522 shares during the last quarter. Nomura Asset Management Co. Ltd. increased its holdings in shares of Encore Capital Group by 120.8% in the fourth quarter. Nomura Asset Management Co. Ltd. now owns 530 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $25,000 after acquiring an additional 290 shares in the last quarter. Meeder Asset Management Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Encore Capital Group in the fourth quarter worth about $28,000. Sterling Capital Management LLC increased its holdings in shares of Encore Capital Group by 827.2% in the fourth quarter. Sterling Capital Management LLC now owns 751 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $36,000 after acquiring an additional 670 shares in the last quarter. Finally, KBC Group NV increased its holdings in shares of Encore Capital Group by 54.9% in the third quarter. KBC Group NV now owns 1,365 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $65,000 after acquiring an additional 484 shares in the last quarter.

Encore Capital Group Price Performance

Shares of ECPG stock opened at $34.79 on Monday. The stock’s fifty day simple moving average is $44.48 and its 200 day simple moving average is $46.39. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.39, a current ratio of 1.11 and a quick ratio of 1.11. The firm has a market cap of $824.21 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of -4.43 and a beta of 1.73. Encore Capital Group has a one year low of $31.54 and a one year high of $51.77.

Encore Capital Group (NASDAQ:ECPG) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, February 26th. The asset manager reported $1.50 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.55 by ($0.05). The company had revenue of $265.62 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $373.40 million. Encore Capital Group had a negative net margin of 13.91% and a positive return on equity of 12.70%. On average, analysts expect that Encore Capital Group will post 5.09 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Encore Capital Group Company Profile

Encore Capital Group, Inc, a specialty finance company, provides debt recovery solutions and other related services for consumers across financial assets worldwide. The company purchases portfolios of defaulted consumer receivables at deep discounts to face value, as well as manages them by working with individuals as they repay their obligations and works toward financial recovery.