Encore Capital Group (NASDAQ:ECPG) Upgraded to Strong-Buy at Northland Capmk

Northland Capmk upgraded shares of Encore Capital Group (NASDAQ:ECPG) from a hold rating to a strong-buy rating in a report published on Thursday, Zacks.com reports.

A number of other research firms have also commented on ECPG. JMP Securities restated a “market outperform” rating and issued a $60.00 price objective on shares of Encore Capital Group in a research note on Monday. Northland Securities upgraded shares of Encore Capital Group from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and lifted their price objective for the company from $55.00 to $58.00 in a research note on Thursday. Finally, Truist Financial dropped their price objective on shares of Encore Capital Group from $70.00 to $64.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, August 20th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Buy” and an average price target of $60.67.

Encore Capital Group Trading Up 2.3 %

NASDAQ ECPG opened at $47.52 on Thursday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.50, a quick ratio of 1.27 and a current ratio of 1.27. The firm has a market cap of $1.13 billion, a PE ratio of -5.54 and a beta of 1.55. Encore Capital Group has a one year low of $34.74 and a one year high of $54.55. The firm’s fifty day moving average is $47.47 and its two-hundred day moving average is $45.27.

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

Institutional Trading of Encore Capital Group

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Meeder Asset Management Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Encore Capital Group in the second quarter valued at about $33,000. nVerses Capital LLC boosted its holdings in Encore Capital Group by 450.0% during the second quarter. nVerses Capital LLC now owns 1,100 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $46,000 after buying an additional 900 shares in the last quarter. Innealta Capital LLC purchased a new stake in Encore Capital Group during the second quarter worth about $60,000. EntryPoint Capital LLC purchased a new stake in Encore Capital Group during the first quarter worth about $138,000. Finally, Victory Capital Management Inc. boosted its holdings in Encore Capital Group by 8.8% during the second quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. now owns 4,980 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $208,000 after buying an additional 403 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.