Horizon Investments LLC Buys Shares of 11,808 Encore Capital Group Inc $ECPG

Horizon Investments LLC bought a new stake in Encore Capital Group Inc (NASDAQ:ECPG) during the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The institutional investor bought 11,808 shares of the asset manager’s stock, valued at approximately $642,000.

Other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the company. LSV Asset Management acquired a new position in shares of Encore Capital Group in the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $88,000. Tower Research Capital LLC TRC raised its position in shares of Encore Capital Group by 168.9% in the 2nd quarter. Tower Research Capital LLC TRC now owns 2,716 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $105,000 after purchasing an additional 1,706 shares in the last quarter. Virtus Advisers LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Encore Capital Group during the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $143,000. Merit Financial Group LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Encore Capital Group during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $209,000. Finally, Mercer Global Advisors Inc. ADV acquired a new stake in shares of Encore Capital Group during the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $214,000.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research firms recently issued reports on ECPG. Citigroup reissued an “outperform” rating on shares of Encore Capital Group in a research report on Thursday. Truist Financial upped their price target on Encore Capital Group from $100.00 to $105.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday. Northland Securities set a $70.00 price target on Encore Capital Group in a research report on Thursday, January 22nd. Citizens Jmp upped their price target on Encore Capital Group from $90.00 to $108.00 and gave the company a “market outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday. Finally, Zacks Research lowered Encore Capital Group from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Monday, April 27th. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and two have given a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $86.25.

Encore Capital Group Stock Performance

ECPG stock opened at $83.88 on Friday. The company has a current ratio of 0.90, a quick ratio of 0.68 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.90. The firm has a market cap of $1.80 billion, a P/E ratio of 6.51 and a beta of 1.33. Encore Capital Group Inc has a 12-month low of $35.67 and a 12-month high of $92.64. The stock’s 50 day simple moving average is $73.99 and its 200 day simple moving average is $60.15.

Encore Capital Group (NASDAQ:ECPG) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, May 6th. The asset manager reported $3.86 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.02 by $0.84. The firm had revenue of $475.41 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $446.26 million. Encore Capital Group had a return on equity of 30.70% and a net margin of 16.00%.The firm’s revenue was up 21.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $1.93 EPS. Encore Capital Group has set its FY 2026 guidance at 13.000-13.000 EPS. As a group, equities research analysts predict that Encore Capital Group Inc will post 13.02 EPS for the current year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, insider Ryan B. Bell sold 7,240 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Monday, March 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $69.04, for a total transaction of $499,849.60. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider directly owned 48,170 shares in the company, valued at $3,325,656.80. This represents a 13.07% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. 2.54% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

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.