Encore Capital Group (NASDAQ:ECPG) Raised to Strong-Buy at Wall Street Zen

Encore Capital Group (NASDAQ:ECPG) was upgraded by equities researchers at Wall Street Zen from a “buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note issued on Saturday.

A number of other equities analysts have also issued reports on the company. Janney Montgomery Scott raised their price target on Encore Capital Group from $56.00 to $62.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “sell (d-)” rating on shares of Encore Capital Group in a research report on Wednesday, October 8th. Finally, Zacks Research upgraded Encore Capital Group from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Friday, October 10th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, three have assigned a Buy rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $61.67.

Encore Capital Group Stock Performance

Shares of Encore Capital Group stock opened at $47.31 on Friday. The firm’s fifty day simple moving average is $43.26 and its 200-day simple moving average is $40.41. Encore Capital Group has a 12 month low of $26.45 and a 12 month high of $51.77. The stock has a market capitalization of $1.06 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -12.65 and a beta of 1.43. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 4.43, a current ratio of 0.81 and a quick ratio of 0.81.

Encore Capital Group (NASDAQ:ECPG) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, November 5th. The asset manager reported $3.17 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.92 by $1.25. The company had revenue of $460.35 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $410.70 million. Encore Capital Group had a negative net margin of 6.07% and a positive return on equity of 19.61%. Encore Capital Group’s revenue for the quarter was up 25.4% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the firm posted $1.26 EPS. As a group, equities analysts forecast that Encore Capital Group will post 5.09 earnings per share for the current year.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Encore Capital Group

Institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Rhumbline Advisers increased its stake in Encore Capital Group by 0.5% during the 3rd quarter. Rhumbline Advisers now owns 70,836 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $2,957,000 after buying an additional 367 shares during the period. Harbor Capital Advisors Inc. boosted its position in Encore Capital Group by 5.6% in the 3rd quarter. Harbor Capital Advisors Inc. now owns 8,517 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $355,000 after buying an additional 448 shares during the last quarter. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. grew its stake in shares of Encore Capital Group by 4.6% during the first quarter. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. now owns 13,929 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $477,000 after acquiring an additional 612 shares in the last quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC increased its position in shares of Encore Capital Group by 345.1% during the second quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 819 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $32,000 after acquiring an additional 635 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Nisa Investment Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Encore Capital Group during the second quarter worth about $27,000.

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.