Encore Capital Group (NASDAQ:ECPG) Announces Quarterly Earnings Results, Beats Expectations By $0.14 EPS

Encore Capital Group (NASDAQ:ECPG) posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday. The asset manager reported $2.81 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.67 by $0.14, FiscalAI reports. The company had revenue of $491.87 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $455.10 million. Encore Capital Group had a return on equity of 30.70% and a net margin of 16.00%.Encore Capital Group’s quarterly revenue was up 11.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $2.49 EPS. Encore Capital Group updated its FY 2026 guidance to 13.000-14.000 EPS.

Here are the key takeaways from Encore Capital Group’s conference call:

• Record U.S. portfolio purchases and global collections supported strong quarterly performance: global purchases reached $444 million, including a record $372 million in the U.S., while collections rose 13% to a record $737 million.
• Collections outperformance and operational improvements drove leverage, with cash efficiency margin increasing to 60.2%, ROIC rising to 14.7%, and leverage improving to 2.3 times from 2.6 times a year ago.
• Management raised 2026 global collections guidance to $2.8 billion-$2.85 billion and expects portfolio purchases near the high end of the $1.4 billion-$1.5 billion range; full-year EPS guidance is $13-$14 despite $1 per share of refinancing costs in Q2.
• The company completed a billion-dollar refinancing at lower coupons, expects approximately $50 million in annualized interest savings, and reported no material maturities until 2028, providing additional financial flexibility.
• Cabot’s European business remained stable, with collections flat year over year at $164 million, but management continues to be selective in the U.K. amid subdued consumer lending, low delinquencies, and robust competition.

Encore Capital Group Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:ECPG traded down $2.85 during midday trading on Wednesday, hitting $92.69. The company had a trading volume of 339,170 shares, compared to its average volume of 329,619. Encore Capital Group has a twelve month low of $36.24 and a twelve month high of $98.15. The stock has a market cap of $1.99 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 7.19 and a beta of 1.27. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.90, a current ratio of 0.90 and a quick ratio of 0.90. The business’s 50-day simple moving average is $87.53 and its 200-day simple moving average is $76.04.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Encore Capital Group news, insider John Yung sold 2,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, June 10th. The stock was sold at an average price of $82.08, for a total value of $164,160.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider directly owned 64,570 shares in the company, valued at $5,299,905.60. This represents a 3.00% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Company insiders own 3.00% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of ECPG. Royal Bank of Canada increased its position in Encore Capital Group by 97.9% during the first quarter. Royal Bank of Canada now owns 33,620 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $1,153,000 after purchasing an additional 16,634 shares during the last quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC boosted its holdings 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 purchasing an additional 49,892 shares during the last quarter. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. boosted its holdings in Encore Capital Group by 4.6% in the 1st quarter. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. now owns 13,929 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $477,000 after purchasing an additional 612 shares during the last quarter. Empowered Funds LLC grew its stake in shares of Encore Capital Group by 2.0% in the 1st quarter. Empowered Funds LLC now owns 90,910 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $3,116,000 after buying an additional 1,806 shares during the period. Finally, UBS AM A Distinct Business Unit of UBS Asset Management Americas LLC grew its stake in shares of Encore Capital Group by 7.8% in the 1st quarter. UBS AM A Distinct Business Unit of UBS Asset Management Americas LLC now owns 78,465 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $2,690,000 after buying an additional 5,672 shares during the period.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several analysts recently commented on ECPG shares. Wall Street Zen cut Encore Capital Group from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Saturday, May 9th. Zacks Research lowered Encore Capital Group from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Monday, July 6th. Citigroup reaffirmed a “market outperform” rating on shares of Encore Capital Group in a research note on Wednesday, June 17th. Weiss Ratings raised shares of Encore Capital Group from a “hold (c)” rating to a “buy (b-)” rating in a report on Monday. Finally, Citizens Jmp increased their target price on shares of Encore Capital Group from $108.00 to $115.00 and gave the company a “market outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, June 17th. Five analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and one has given a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, Encore Capital Group presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $88.00.

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.