BlackRock Inc. Takes Position in Encore Capital Group Inc $ECPG

BlackRock Inc. purchased a new stake in Encore Capital Group Inc (NASDAQ:ECPG) in the second quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm purchased 3,679,162 shares of the asset manager’s stock, valued at approximately $343,229,000. BlackRock Inc. owned 0.17% of Encore Capital Group as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Several other large investors have also recently bought and sold shares of ECPG. IFP Advisors Inc raised its position 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 worth $27,000 after acquiring an additional 467 shares during the last quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC raised its holdings in Encore Capital Group by 185.7% during the 4th 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. USA Financial Formulas bought a new position in shares of Encore Capital Group in the 1st quarter valued at about $46,000. Allworth Financial LP grew its position in shares of Encore Capital Group by 29.1% during the 4th quarter. Allworth Financial LP now owns 1,139 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $62,000 after buying an additional 257 shares during the period. Finally, Tower Research Capital LLC TRC grew its position in shares of Encore Capital Group by 168.9% during the 2nd quarter. Tower Research Capital LLC TRC now owns 2,716 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $105,000 after buying an additional 1,706 shares during the period.

Analyst Ratings Changes

ECPG has been the topic of several analyst reports. Citizens Jmp increased their price objective on shares of Encore Capital Group from $108.00 to $115.00 and gave the company a “market outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, June 17th. Citigroup reaffirmed a “market outperform” rating on shares of Encore Capital Group in a report on Tuesday, August 11th. Zacks Research upgraded shares of Encore Capital Group from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Friday, August 7th. Truist Financial increased their price target on Encore Capital Group from $105.00 to $112.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, August 6th. Finally, Wall Street Zen cut 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 given a Buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Buy” and a consensus target price of $89.75.

Insider Activity

In related 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 value of $164,160.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider directly owned 64,570 shares in the company, valued at approximately $5,299,905.60. The trade was 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 hyperlink. Corporate insiders own 3.00% of the company’s stock.

Encore Capital Group Stock Performance

Shares of Encore Capital Group stock opened at $102.36 on Wednesday. The stock’s fifty day simple moving average is $93.00 and its 200 day simple moving average is $80.43. The company has a current ratio of 0.96, a quick ratio of 0.96 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.87. The company has a market capitalization of $2.17 billion, a PE ratio of 7.75 and a beta of 1.27. Encore Capital Group Inc has a 12 month low of $39.94 and a 12 month high of $104.98.

Encore Capital Group (NASDAQ:ECPG) last posted its 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 return on equity of 29.83% and a net margin of 15.86%.The firm had revenue of $491.87 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $455.10 million. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $2.49 earnings per share. The company’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. On average, research analysts predict that Encore Capital Group Inc will post 13.52 EPS for the current year.

Encore Capital Group 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.