Truist Financial Increases Encore Capital Group (NASDAQ:ECPG) Price Target to $105.00

Key Points

• Truist Financial raised its price target on Encore Capital Group to $105 and kept a "buy" rating, implying about a 30.44% upside from the prior close.
• Encore beat estimates with Q results of $3.86 EPS (vs. $3.02 expected) and $475.4M revenue (up 21% YoY), and set FY2026 guidance at $13.00 EPS versus analysts' average forecast of $11.97.
• Despite the positive results and analyst upgrades, ECPG fell 4.4% to $80.50; the stock trades at a P/E of 7.36, carries a debt-to-equity of 4.10, and has a market cap of $1.73 billion.

Encore Capital Group (NASDAQ:ECPG - Get Free Report) had its target price raised by Truist Financial from $100.00 to $105.00 in a research report issued to clients and investors on Thursday,Benzinga reports. The brokerage currently has a "buy" rating on the asset manager's stock. Truist Financial's target price suggests a potential upside of 30.44% from the stock's previous close.

A number of other research analysts also recently commented on the stock. Zacks Research downgraded shares of Encore Capital Group from a "strong-buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Monday, April 27th. Weiss Ratings upgraded shares of Encore Capital Group from a "sell (d-)" rating to a "hold (c-)" rating in a research note on Friday, February 27th. Citizens Jmp boosted their price objective on Encore Capital Group from $75.00 to $90.00 and gave the company a "market outperform" rating in a report on Thursday, February 26th. Wall Street Zen upgraded Encore Capital Group from a "buy" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a research note on Saturday, April 18th. Finally, Citigroup reiterated an "outperform" rating on shares of Encore Capital Group in a report on Thursday. Four analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and two have assigned a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Encore Capital Group has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $81.75.

Encore Capital Group Stock Down 4.4%

ECPG stock traded down $3.74 during trading on Thursday, reaching $80.50. The stock had a trading volume of 329,051 shares, compared to its average volume of 265,353. The company has a current ratio of 0.68, a quick ratio of 0.68 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 4.10. The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $73.51 and a 200 day moving average price of $59.86. The company has a market capitalization of $1.73 billion, a P/E ratio of 7.36 and a beta of 1.33. Encore Capital Group has a 1-year low of $35.67 and a 1-year high of $92.64.

Encore Capital Group (NASDAQ:ECPG - Get Free Report) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, May 6th. The asset manager reported $3.86 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $3.02 by $0.84. Encore Capital Group had a return on equity of 28.19% and a net margin of 14.52%.The company had revenue of $475.41 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $446.26 million. During the same period last year, the firm earned $1.93 earnings per share. The company's revenue was up 21.0% on a year-over-year basis. Encore Capital Group has set its FY 2026 guidance at 13.000-13.000 EPS. On average, equities analysts anticipate that Encore Capital Group will post 11.97 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Activity at Encore Capital Group

In other news, insider Ryan B. Bell sold 7,240 shares of the 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 sale, the insider directly owned 48,170 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,325,656.80. This represents a 13.07% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Company insiders own 2.54% of the company's stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. AQR Capital Management LLC lifted its stake in Encore Capital Group by 78.0% in the fourth quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 412,498 shares of the asset manager's stock valued at $22,419,000 after buying an additional 180,733 shares during the last quarter. Hillsdale Investment Management Inc. bought a new stake in Encore Capital Group in the 4th quarter valued at about $7,453,000. Jane Street Group LLC boosted its stake in Encore Capital Group by 488.1% during the 4th quarter. Jane Street Group LLC now owns 154,128 shares of the asset manager's stock valued at $8,377,000 after purchasing an additional 127,920 shares during the period. First Trust Advisors LP grew its position in Encore Capital Group by 379.7% in the 3rd quarter. First Trust Advisors LP now owns 98,817 shares of the asset manager's stock worth $4,125,000 after purchasing an additional 78,217 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership grew its position in Encore Capital Group by 476.6% in the 2nd quarter. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership now owns 92,978 shares of the asset manager's stock worth $3,599,000 after purchasing an additional 76,852 shares during 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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