Encore Capital Group Inc (ECPG) vs The Western Union Company (WU)

Encore Capital Group Inc and The Western Union Company are both Credit Services companies. Encore Capital Group Inc and The Western Union Company are of similar size ($2.1B and $1.9B). The Western Union Company trades at the lower P/E: 4.9× against 7.2×. Encore Capital Group Inc grew revenue faster over the last twelve months: 29.6% against −1.63%. Encore Capital Group Inc has the higher net margin (15.9% vs 9.79%) and the lower return on invested capital (4.83% vs 14.9%). Across the 21 metrics below, The Western Union Company leads on 12 and Encore Capital Group Inc on 9.

Valuation

Metric ECPG WU Credit Services median
P/E 7.24 4.94 9.64
P/S 1.12 0.48 0.87
P/B 1.97 2.11 1.16
Price to free cash flow 13.03 4.56 2.99
EV/EBITDA n/m 4.52 9.58
EV/Sales 3.22 0.92 2.32
Earnings yield 13.81% 20.23% 6.72%
Free cash flow yield 7.67% 21.94% 12.33%

Profitability

Metric ECPG WU Credit Services median
Gross margin 100.00% 35.09% 77.13%
Operating margin 0.00% 15.91% 0.34%
Net margin 15.86% 9.79% 9.25%
Free cash flow margin 8.56% 10.51% 13.03%
Return on equity 30.54% 43.97% 8.49%
Return on assets 5.61% 4.96% 2.29%
Return on invested capital 4.83% 14.91% 4.09%

Growth

Metric ECPG WU Credit Services median
Revenue growth (TTM) 29.55% (1.63%) 4.62%
EPS growth (last fiscal year) 287.14% (44.53%) —
Revenue growth, 5-year CAGR 3.33% (3.48%) 9.13%
Net income growth, 5-year CAGR 3.93% (7.66%) 0.00%

Health

Metric ECPG WU Credit Services median
Debt to equity 3.87 2.95 0.68
Current ratio 0.96 1.12 1.55
Net debt to EBITDA 0.00 1.78 0.13

Dividend

Metric ECPG WU Credit Services median
Dividend yield — 7.89% 3.34%
Payout ratio 0.00 0.48 0.00

Size

Metric ECPG WU Credit Services median
Market cap 2.07b 1.89b 872.19m

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