Bessemer Group Inc. Buys 32,189 Shares of Encore Capital Group Inc $ECPG

Key Points

• Bessemer Group Inc. increased its stake in Encore Capital Group by 31.1% in Q1, buying 32,189 additional shares and bringing its total holding to 135,692 shares worth about $9.5 million.
• Encore Capital Group reported better-than-expected quarterly results, with EPS of $3.86 versus $3.02 expected and revenue of $475.4 million, up 21% year over year.
• Analyst sentiment remains moderately positive: the stock has a consensus “Moderate Buy” rating, though some firms recently downgraded it to Hold while others raised price targets as high as $115.

Bessemer Group Inc. grew its stake in shares of Encore Capital Group Inc (NASDAQ:ECPG - Free Report) by 31.1% during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 135,692 shares of the asset manager's stock after acquiring an additional 32,189 shares during the quarter. Bessemer Group Inc. owned about 0.63% of Encore Capital Group worth $9,515,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other large investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. IFP Advisors Inc raised its holdings in shares of Encore Capital Group by 1,729.6% during the fourth quarter. IFP Advisors Inc now owns 494 shares of the asset manager's stock valued at $27,000 after purchasing an additional 467 shares during the last quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC boosted its holdings 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 last quarter. Allworth Financial LP grew its position in Encore Capital Group by 29.1% in the 4th quarter. Allworth Financial LP now owns 1,139 shares of the asset manager's stock worth $62,000 after purchasing an additional 257 shares during the period. Tower Research Capital LLC TRC grew its position in Encore Capital Group by 168.9% in the 2nd quarter. Tower Research Capital LLC TRC now owns 2,716 shares of the asset manager's stock worth $105,000 after purchasing an additional 1,706 shares during the period. Finally, Virtus Advisers LLC purchased a new stake in Encore Capital Group during the 3rd quarter valued at $143,000.

Insider Activity at Encore Capital Group

In related news, insider John Yung sold 2,000 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Wednesday, June 10th. The stock was sold at an average price of $82.08, for a total value of $164,160.00. Following the transaction, the insider directly owned 64,570 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $5,299,905.60. This trade represents a 3.00% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. 3.00% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Encore Capital Group Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ ECPG opened at $91.33 on Monday. Encore Capital Group Inc has a 12-month low of $35.67 and a 12-month high of $94.60. The firm has a market capitalization of $1.96 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 7.09 and a beta of 1.27. The company has a current ratio of 0.90, a quick ratio of 0.90 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.90. The firm has a 50 day moving average of $84.63 and a 200 day moving average of $72.70.

Encore Capital Group (NASDAQ:ECPG - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, May 6th. The asset manager reported $3.86 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $3.02 by $0.84. The business had revenue of $475.41 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $446.26 million. Encore Capital Group had a net margin of 16.00% and a return on equity of 30.70%. The company's quarterly revenue was up 21.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the firm earned $1.93 earnings per share. Encore Capital Group has set its FY 2026 guidance at 13.000-13.000 EPS. On average, research analysts anticipate that Encore Capital Group Inc will post 13.01 earnings per share for the current year.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research firms have recently weighed in on ECPG. Wall Street Zen cut Encore Capital Group from a "strong-buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Saturday, May 9th. Zacks Research lowered Encore Capital Group from a "strong-buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Monday, July 6th. Citizens Jmp upped their price objective on Encore Capital Group from $108.00 to $115.00 and gave the company a "market outperform" rating in a research report on Wednesday, June 17th. Citigroup reiterated a "market outperform" rating on shares of Encore Capital Group in a research report on Wednesday, June 17th. Finally, Weiss Ratings downgraded Encore Capital Group from a "hold (c+)" rating to a "hold (c)" rating in a report on Monday, June 8th. Four analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and two have assigned a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $88.00.

Encore Capital Group Company Profile

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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