Encore Capital Group, Inc. (ECPG) Stock

Encore Capital Group, Inc. (ECPG) is a Financials stock trading at $98.15 (as of 2026-08-20), with a market capitalization of $2.08B and a trailing P/E of 6.9. Figures are sourced from first-party U.S. SEC EDGAR filings and market data.

Encore Capital Group, Inc. operates in the specialty finance market, focusing on acquiring portfolios of defaulted consumer receivables and managing collections as those obligations are repaid. It also provides collection-related services, including early-stage collection, business process outsourcing, contingent collection, and debt servicing for non-performing loan assets.

Understand Encore Capital Group, Inc.: how it makes money

Encore Capital Group, Inc. buys defaulted consumer debt receivable portfolios at deep discounts and then collects from borrowers as they repay, generating revenue from debt purchasing and additional servicing and other related collection services.

The profit model is built around buying defaulted receivable portfolios at deep discounts, then turning future borrower repayments into collections that flow through as debt purchasing and portfolio revenue, with a smaller contribution from servicing and other collection-related services.

Revenue by segment (latest quarter)
Debt Purchase	$0.5B
ServicingOther	$0.0B

Business quality (Strong): Revenue is primarily driven by debt purchasing, so performance depends heavily on collections and the durability of estimated remaining collections, with limited diversification from servicing and other revenue.

Valuation: At 6× earnings, ECPG trades 49% below the Banking average (13×). Note: one-time items can distort reported P/E.

Bull case

Collections are the core operating engine: The company’s business model centers on working with individuals as they repay, and its operational KPI set emphasizes Collections (Global).
Debt purchasing dominates revenue: Debt Purchasing Revenue is the largest identified revenue source (about 0.45B of the ~0.5B quarterly total), aligning results with portfolio purchase activity and collections.
Reported operating profitability is strong in the latest quarter: Operating margin for the period ending 2026-03-31 is reported as 38.7%.

Bear case

Revenue is sensitive to changes in remaining collections estimates: The revenue bridge includes a line item for Revenue Impact from Estimated Remaining Collections Reduction (0.13B), which indicates estimates can materially affect reported results.
Limited revenue diversification in the disclosed split: Servicing and Other Revenue is small (about 0.03B versus about 0.45B for debt purchasing revenue), so unfavorable collection or purchasing outcomes could be less offset by other lines.
Performance likely depends on sustaining portfolio purchases: Portfolio Purchases (Global) is an explicit operating KPI candidate, reflecting that the company’s platform performance depends on continuing to purchase receivable portfolios.

Valuation — source: SEC EDGAR (first-party)
Price	$98.15
Market Cap	$2.08B
P/E Ratio	6.9
EV / EBITDA	2.5
Price / Book	1.93
Price / Sales	1.09
FCF Yield	6.0%
DCF Value (model)	$262.68
DCF Upside vs Price	167.6%

Profitability & Growth — source: SEC EDGAR
Revenue (TTM)	$1.77B
Net Margin	14.5%
Return on Equity	28.0%
Revenue Growth (YoY)	11.3%
EPS Growth (YoY)	18.8%
FCF Growth (YoY)	-1282.6%

Valuation vs Sector & Industry
Stock P/E	6.9
Sector P/E (Financials)	15.1
Industry P/E (Banking)	12.9
vs Sector	-54.4%
vs Industry	-46.6%

Smart-Money Activity — SEC Form 4 / 13F / Congressional disclosures
Top Institutional Holder	BlackRock, Inc. ($273.01M)
Institutional Holders Tracked	10

Company
Sector	Financials
Industry	Banking
CEO	Ashish Masih
Employees	7,350
Country	US
IPO Date	1999-07-09

Related Companies (Business model: Specialty Finance / Lending; 8 closest by market cap; US-domiciled)

Data as of 2026-08-20.

Figures sourced from U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC EDGAR) filings and market data. Not personalized investment advice.