Royal Bank of Canada Buys 21,078 Shares of Encore Capital Group Inc $ECPG

Key Points

• Royal Bank of Canada increased its Encore Capital Group stake by 687.5% in the first quarter, purchasing 21,078 additional shares and bringing its holdings to 24,144 shares valued at approximately $1.69 million.
• Analysts remain broadly bullish, with Encore receiving a consensus “Buy” rating and an average price target of $89.75, although the stock was trading at $102.21 near its 52-week high.
• Encore exceeded quarterly expectations, reporting $2.81 in EPS and $491.87 million in revenue, with revenue up 11.3% year over year; the company guided to fiscal 2026 EPS of $13.00–$14.00.

Royal Bank of Canada increased its position in Encore Capital Group Inc (NASDAQ:ECPG - Free Report) by 687.5% in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 24,144 shares of the asset manager's stock after acquiring an additional 21,078 shares during the quarter. Royal Bank of Canada owned about 0.11% of Encore Capital Group worth $1,694,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. IFP Advisors Inc lifted its stake in shares of Encore Capital Group by 1,729.6% during the 4th quarter. IFP Advisors Inc now owns 494 shares of the asset manager's stock valued at $27,000 after buying an additional 467 shares in the last quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC raised its holdings in 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. Allworth Financial LP lifted its position in shares of Encore Capital Group by 29.1% in the fourth 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. Tower Research Capital LLC TRC lifted its position in shares of Encore Capital Group by 168.9% in the second quarter. Tower Research Capital LLC TRC now owns 2,716 shares of the asset manager's stock valued at $105,000 after acquiring an additional 1,706 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Virtus Advisers LLC bought a new position in shares of Encore Capital Group in the third quarter worth about $143,000.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research analysts have weighed in on the company. Citigroup restated a "market outperform" rating on shares of Encore Capital Group in a research note on Tuesday, August 11th. 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 raised shares of Encore Capital Group from a "hold" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a report on Friday, August 7th. Truist Financial upped their target price on shares of Encore Capital Group from $105.00 to $112.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research report on Thursday, August 6th. Finally, Wall Street Zen cut shares of Encore Capital Group from a "strong-buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Saturday, May 9th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating and five have issued a Buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, Encore Capital Group currently has a consensus rating of "Buy" and an average target price of $89.75.

Encore Capital Group Trading Down 1.4%

ECPG stock opened at $102.21 on Wednesday. The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $91.03 and a 200 day moving average price of $78.82. Encore Capital Group Inc has a fifty-two week low of $39.94 and a fifty-two week high of $104.98. The firm has a market cap of $2.17 billion, a PE ratio of 7.74 and a beta of 1.27. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.87, a quick ratio of 0.96 and a current ratio of 0.96.

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

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Encore Capital Group news, insider John Yung sold 2,000 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, June 10th. The stock was sold at an average price of $82.08, for a total transaction of $164,160.00. Following the sale, the insider directly owned 64,570 shares of the company's stock, valued at $5,299,905.60. The trade was a 3.00% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Corporate insiders own 3.00% of the company's stock.

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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