Brokerages Set Encore Capital Group Inc (NASDAQ:ECPG) Target Price at $62.67

Encore Capital Group Inc (NASDAQ:ECPG) has received a consensus recommendation of “Moderate Buy” from the five ratings firms that are covering the company, MarketBeat.com reports. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating on the company. The average 12-month target price among analysts that have issued ratings on the stock in the last year is $62.6667.

ECPG has been the subject of several research reports. Weiss Ratings restated a “sell (d-)” rating on shares of Encore Capital Group in a research note on Wednesday, October 8th. Zacks Research raised shares of Encore Capital Group from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Friday, October 10th.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Encore Capital Group

Several large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in ECPG. Heartland Advisors Inc. bought a new position in Encore Capital Group in the 1st quarter valued at about $10,118,000. Stephens Investment Management Group LLC lifted its position in Encore Capital Group by 9.1% in the 2nd quarter. Stephens Investment Management Group LLC now owns 1,248,831 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $48,342,000 after acquiring an additional 104,367 shares in the last quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP lifted its position in Encore Capital Group by 13.0% in the 1st quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 790,392 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $27,095,000 after acquiring an additional 91,019 shares in the last quarter. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership lifted its position in shares of Encore Capital Group by 476.6% during the 2nd quarter. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership now owns 92,978 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $3,599,000 after buying an additional 76,852 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Allianz Asset Management GmbH lifted its position in shares of Encore Capital Group by 38.6% during the 1st quarter. Allianz Asset Management GmbH now owns 196,004 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $6,719,000 after buying an additional 54,568 shares in the last quarter.

Encore Capital Group Stock Performance

Shares of ECPG opened at $41.58 on Tuesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 4.43, a current ratio of 0.81 and a quick ratio of 0.81. The stock has a 50-day moving average of $42.99 and a 200-day moving average of $39.87. The company has a market cap of $956.84 million, a PE ratio of -11.12 and a beta of 1.48. Encore Capital Group has a one year low of $26.45 and a one year high of $51.77.

Encore Capital Group (NASDAQ:ECPG) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, August 6th. The asset manager reported $2.49 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.44 by $1.05. The company had revenue of $442.12 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $383.42 million. Encore Capital Group had a positive return on equity of 19.61% and a negative net margin of 6.07%.The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 24.4% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the business posted $1.34 EPS. On average, equities research analysts predict that Encore Capital Group will post 5.09 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Encore Capital Group Company Profile

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.