Cookson Peirce & Co. Inc. Purchases New Shares in Encore Capital Group Inc $ECPG

Key Points

• Cookson Peirce & Co. Inc. purchased 16,553 Encore Capital shares during the second quarter, valued at approximately $1.54 million and representing about 0.08% of the company.
• Analyst sentiment remains favorable: Encore has a consensus “Buy” rating and an average price target of $89.75, while several firms recently upgraded the stock or raised their targets.
• Encore exceeded quarterly expectations with $2.81 in EPS versus a $2.67 estimate and revenue of $491.87 million, up 11.3% year over year; shares recently opened at $98.94.

Cookson Peirce & Co. Inc. purchased a new position in Encore Capital Group Inc (NASDAQ:ECPG - Free Report) during the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The firm purchased 16,553 shares of the asset manager's stock, valued at approximately $1,544,000. Cookson Peirce & Co. Inc. owned approximately 0.08% of Encore Capital Group at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of ECPG. IFP Advisors Inc increased its position in shares of 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 acquiring an additional 467 shares in the last quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC raised its holdings in shares of Encore Capital Group by 185.7% during the fourth quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 717 shares of the asset manager's stock valued at $39,000 after acquiring an additional 466 shares during the period. USA Financial Formulas purchased a new stake in shares of Encore Capital Group in the 1st quarter valued at approximately $46,000. Allworth Financial LP lifted its position in shares of Encore Capital Group by 29.1% in the 4th quarter. Allworth Financial LP now owns 1,139 shares of the asset manager's stock valued at $62,000 after acquiring an additional 257 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Public Employees Retirement System of Ohio acquired a new position in Encore Capital Group in the 2nd quarter worth approximately $89,000.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities analysts have weighed in on the stock. Weiss Ratings upgraded shares of Encore Capital Group from a "hold (c)" rating to a "buy (b-)" rating in a research report on Monday, August 3rd. Zacks Research upgraded Encore Capital Group from a "hold" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a report on Friday, August 7th. Citizens Jmp raised their target price on Encore Capital Group from $108.00 to $115.00 and gave the stock 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 report on Tuesday, August 11th. Finally, Wall Street Zen downgraded Encore Capital Group from a "strong-buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Saturday, May 9th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating and five have assigned a Buy rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of "Buy" and an average target price of $89.75.

Encore Capital Group Stock Performance

Shares of ECPG stock opened at $98.94 on Monday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.87, a current ratio of 0.96 and a quick ratio of 0.96. Encore Capital Group Inc has a fifty-two week low of $39.94 and a fifty-two week high of $104.98. The stock's 50-day moving average is $94.05 and its two-hundred day moving average is $81.34. The firm has a market cap of $2.10 billion, a P/E ratio of 7.49 and a beta of 1.27.

Encore Capital Group (NASDAQ:ECPG - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, August 5th. The asset manager reported $2.81 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.67 by $0.14. The business had revenue of $491.87 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $455.10 million. Encore Capital Group had a return on equity of 29.83% and a net margin of 15.86%.The firm's revenue was up 11.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $2.49 EPS. Encore Capital Group has set its FY 2026 guidance at 13.000-14.000 EPS. Analysts predict that Encore Capital Group Inc will post 13.52 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, insider John Yung sold 2,000 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, June 10th. The shares were sold at an average price of $82.08, for a total transaction of $164,160.00. Following the transaction, the insider 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 ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Insiders own 3.00% of the company's stock.

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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