Heartland Advisors Inc. Has $20.97 Million Holdings in Encore Capital Group Inc $ECPG

Heartland Advisors Inc. increased its holdings in Encore Capital Group Inc (NASDAQ:ECPG) by 10.0% during the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The fund owned 385,830 shares of the asset manager’s stock after acquiring an additional 34,980 shares during the quarter. Encore Capital Group accounts for about 1.1% of Heartland Advisors Inc.’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 11th biggest holding. Heartland Advisors Inc.’s holdings in Encore Capital Group were worth $20,970,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in ECPG. Hillsdale Investment Management Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Encore Capital Group in the 4th quarter worth about $7,453,000. First Trust Advisors LP raised its holdings in shares of Encore Capital Group by 379.7% in the 3rd quarter. First Trust Advisors LP now owns 98,817 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $4,125,000 after acquiring an additional 78,217 shares during the last quarter. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership increased its stake in Encore Capital Group by 476.6% in the 2nd quarter. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership now owns 92,978 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $3,599,000 after buying an additional 76,852 shares during the last quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC increased its stake in Encore Capital Group by 263.0% in the 1st quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 68,860 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $2,361,000 after buying an additional 49,892 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Balyasny Asset Management L.P. increased its stake in Encore Capital Group by 525.6% in the 2nd quarter. Balyasny Asset Management L.P. now owns 47,837 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $1,852,000 after buying an additional 40,191 shares during the last quarter.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities research analysts have commented on ECPG shares. Weiss Ratings lowered shares of Encore Capital Group from a “hold (c+)” rating to a “hold (c)” rating in a research note on Monday. Truist Financial increased their price objective on shares of Encore Capital Group from $100.00 to $105.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, May 7th. Citigroup reiterated an “outperform” rating on shares of Encore Capital Group in a research note on Thursday, May 7th. Citizens Jmp increased their price objective on shares of Encore Capital Group from $90.00 to $108.00 and gave the company a “market outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, May 7th. Finally, Wall Street Zen lowered shares of Encore Capital Group from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Saturday, May 9th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, four have given a Buy rating and one has issued a Hold rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Buy” and a consensus price target of $86.25.

Encore Capital Group Trading Down 2.9%

NASDAQ:ECPG opened at $80.20 on Thursday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.90, a quick ratio of 0.90 and a current ratio of 0.90. The firm has a market cap of $1.72 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 6.22 and a beta of 1.30. Encore Capital Group Inc has a 52 week low of $35.67 and a 52 week high of $92.64. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $79.78 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $66.12.

Encore Capital Group (NASDAQ:ECPG) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, May 6th. The asset manager reported $3.86 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.02 by $0.84. Encore Capital Group had a net margin of 16.00% and a return on equity of 30.70%. The firm had revenue of $475.41 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $446.26 million. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $1.93 EPS. The company’s revenue was up 21.0% compared to the same quarter last year. Encore Capital Group has set its FY 2026 guidance at 13.000-13.000 EPS. On average, equities analysts expect that Encore Capital Group Inc will post 13.01 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

About Encore Capital Group

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.