Encore Capital Group (NASDAQ:ECPG) Rating Lowered to "Hold" at Zacks Research

Key Points

• Zacks Research downgraded Encore Capital Group (NASDAQ:ECPG) from a "strong-buy" to a "hold" in a note to investors.
• Despite the downgrade, Encore reported a strong quarter — $3.37 EPS vs. $2.20 estimate and $473.6M revenue (up 78.3% YoY) — and carries a MarketBeat consensus of "Moderate Buy" with a $80.50 target price.
• An insider sold 7,240 shares (a 13.07% reduction in that holder's position) even as several institutional investors increased stakes; the stock trades near its 52-week high ($85.42) with a P/E of 7.67 and market cap of about $1.8B.

Encore Capital Group (NASDAQ:ECPG - Get Free Report) was downgraded by research analysts at Zacks Research from a "strong-buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note issued to investors on Monday,Zacks.com reports.

ECPG has been the subject of several other research reports. Wall Street Zen upgraded Encore Capital Group from a "buy" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a research report on Saturday, April 18th. Truist Financial set a $100.00 price objective on Encore Capital Group in a research report on Tuesday, April 21st. Northland Securities set a $70.00 price objective on Encore Capital Group in a research report on Thursday, January 22nd. Weiss Ratings upgraded Encore Capital Group from a "sell (d-)" rating to a "hold (c-)" rating in a research report on Friday, February 27th. Finally, Citigroup reiterated an "outperform" rating on shares of Encore Capital Group in a research report on Tuesday, January 20th. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and two have assigned a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Encore Capital Group has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $80.50.

Encore Capital Group Stock Performance

Shares of ECPG stock opened at $84.07 on Monday. 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 fifty-two week low of $32.27 and a fifty-two week high of $85.42. The stock has a 50 day moving average price of $71.47 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $58.74. The company has a market capitalization of $1.80 billion, a P/E ratio of 7.67 and a beta of 1.26.

Encore Capital Group (NASDAQ:ECPG - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, February 25th. The asset manager reported $3.37 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate 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 quarter in the previous year, the company posted ($9.42) earnings per share. The business's revenue was up 78.3% on a year-over-year basis. Analysts expect that Encore Capital Group will post 11.97 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Activity at Encore Capital Group

In related news, insider Ryan B. Bell sold 7,240 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, March 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $69.04, for a total transaction of $499,849.60. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider owned 48,170 shares in the company, valued at $3,325,656.80. This represents a 13.07% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. 2.63% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Encore Capital Group

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in ECPG. Royal Bank of Canada raised its holdings in shares of Encore Capital Group by 97.9% during the first quarter. Royal Bank of Canada now owns 33,620 shares of the asset manager's stock valued at $1,153,000 after acquiring an additional 16,634 shares in the last quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC raised its holdings in shares of Encore Capital Group by 263.0% during the first quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 68,860 shares of the asset manager's stock valued at $2,361,000 after acquiring an additional 49,892 shares in the last quarter. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. raised its holdings in shares of Encore Capital Group by 4.6% during the first quarter. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. now owns 13,929 shares of the asset manager's stock valued at $477,000 after acquiring an additional 612 shares in the last quarter. Empowered Funds LLC raised its holdings in shares of Encore Capital Group by 2.0% during the first quarter. Empowered Funds LLC now owns 90,910 shares of the asset manager's stock valued at $3,116,000 after acquiring an additional 1,806 shares in the last quarter. Finally, UBS AM A Distinct Business Unit of UBS Asset Management Americas LLC raised its holdings in shares of Encore Capital Group by 7.8% during the first quarter. UBS AM A Distinct Business Unit of UBS Asset Management Americas LLC now owns 78,465 shares of the asset manager's stock valued at $2,690,000 after acquiring an additional 5,672 shares in 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.

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