Northland Securities Upgrades Encore Capital Group (NASDAQ:ECPG) to Outperform

Northland Securities upgraded shares of Encore Capital Group (NASDAQ:ECPG) from a market perform rating to an outperform rating in a research report report published on Thursday morning, Marketbeat Ratings reports. Northland Securities currently has $58.00 target price on the asset manager’s stock, up from their prior target price of $55.00.

Several other analysts have also recently commented on the company. Truist Financial dropped their price target on Encore Capital Group from $70.00 to $64.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, August 20th. JMP Securities reiterated a “market outperform” rating and set a $60.00 price target on shares of Encore Capital Group in a research report on Monday, October 14th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Buy” and a consensus price target of $60.67.

Encore Capital Group Price Performance

NASDAQ:ECPG opened at $47.15 on Thursday. Encore Capital Group has a 52 week low of $34.74 and a 52 week high of $54.55. The company has a quick ratio of 1.27, a current ratio of 1.27 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.50. The stock has a market capitalization of $1.12 billion, a PE ratio of -5.50 and a beta of 1.55. The stock’s 50-day moving average price is $47.44 and its 200-day moving average price is $45.31.

Encore Capital Group (NASDAQ:ECPG) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, August 7th. The asset manager reported $1.34 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.24 by $0.10. Encore Capital Group had a positive return on equity of 11.12% and a negative net margin of 15.43%. The company had revenue of $355.29 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $346.06 million. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $1.08 EPS. Encore Capital Group’s revenue was up 10.0% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities analysts expect that Encore Capital Group will post 5.56 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Institutional Trading of Encore Capital Group

Several large investors have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Clearbridge Investments LLC grew its holdings in Encore Capital Group by 17.8% in the 1st quarter. Clearbridge Investments LLC now owns 394,786 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $18,006,000 after buying an additional 59,624 shares in the last quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp grew its holdings in Encore Capital Group by 0.9% in the 2nd quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 182,117 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $7,600,000 after buying an additional 1,650 shares in the last quarter. Marshall Wace LLP grew its holdings in Encore Capital Group by 221.1% in the 2nd quarter. Marshall Wace LLP now owns 130,127 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $5,430,000 after buying an additional 89,596 shares in the last quarter. Millennium Management LLC grew its holdings in Encore Capital Group by 60.0% in the 2nd quarter. Millennium Management LLC now owns 80,170 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $3,345,000 after buying an additional 30,052 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Sei Investments Co. grew its holdings in Encore Capital Group by 14.0% in the 2nd quarter. Sei Investments Co. now owns 73,105 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $3,051,000 after buying an additional 8,991 shares in the last quarter.

About Encore Capital Group

Encore Capital Group, Inc, a specialty finance company, provides debt recovery solutions and other related services for consumers across financial assets worldwide. The company purchases portfolios of defaulted consumer receivables at deep discounts to face value, as well as manages them by working with individuals as they repay their obligations and works toward financial recovery.