Heartland Advisors Inc. Takes Position in Encore Capital Group Inc $ECPG

Heartland Advisors Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Encore Capital Group Inc (NASDAQ:ECPG) in the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund acquired 362,825 shares of the asset manager’s stock, valued at approximately $33,848,000. Encore Capital Group comprises approximately 1.5% of Heartland Advisors Inc.’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 4th largest position. Heartland Advisors Inc. owned approximately 1.71% of Encore Capital Group as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Royal Bank of Canada boosted its position in Encore Capital Group by 97.9% in the first quarter. Royal Bank of Canada now owns 33,620 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $1,153,000 after purchasing an additional 16,634 shares during the last quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC lifted its stake in shares of Encore Capital Group by 263.0% in the 1st quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 68,860 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $2,361,000 after purchasing an additional 49,892 shares during the period. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. boosted its holdings in shares of Encore Capital Group by 4.6% in the first quarter. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. now owns 13,929 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $477,000 after buying an additional 612 shares during the last quarter. Empowered Funds LLC grew its position in 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 buying an additional 1,806 shares during the period. Finally, UBS AM A Distinct Business Unit of UBS Asset Management Americas LLC grew its position in 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 buying an additional 5,672 shares during the period.

Insiders Place Their Bets

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 completion of the sale, the insider directly owned 64,570 shares in the company, valued at $5,299,905.60. This trade represents a 3.00% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Insiders own 3.00% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research analysts have recently weighed in on the stock. 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. Citigroup reaffirmed a “market outperform” rating on shares of Encore Capital Group in a research note on Tuesday, August 11th. Weiss Ratings raised shares of Encore Capital Group from a “hold (c)” rating to a “buy (b-)” rating in a report on Monday, August 3rd. Citizens Jmp upped their price target on Encore Capital Group from $108.00 to $115.00 and gave the stock a “market outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, June 17th. Finally, Truist Financial raised their price objective on Encore Capital Group from $105.00 to $112.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, August 6th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating and five have assigned a Buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Buy” and an average target price of $89.75.

Encore Capital Group Trading Up 3.1%

Shares of NASDAQ ECPG opened at $101.21 on Friday. Encore Capital Group Inc has a 1-year low of $39.94 and a 1-year high of $104.98. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.87, a current ratio of 0.96 and a quick ratio of 0.96. The business’s 50 day moving average is $92.20 and its two-hundred day moving average is $79.60. The stock has a market capitalization of $2.15 billion, a P/E ratio of 7.66 and a beta of 1.27.

Encore Capital Group (NASDAQ:ECPG) last posted its quarterly earnings data 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 company’s revenue for the quarter was up 11.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the company earned $2.49 EPS. Encore Capital Group has set its FY 2026 guidance at 13.000-14.000 EPS. As a group, research analysts expect that Encore Capital Group Inc will post 13.52 EPS for the current year.

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.