BUR vs ECPG vs JCAP Stock Comparison

Burford Capital, Encore Capital and Jefferson Capital Prices as of Oct 29, 2026 Peers: Industry group
BUR Burford Capital Ltd
$3.48 -11.0% 1M -65.4% 1Y
Market cap
$757.31M
P/E
–
Revenue (TTM)
$1.93B
Div. yield
–
Specialty Finance Financial Services
1 win
ECPG Encore Capital Group Inc
$102.36 +7.5% 1M +143.4% 1Y
Market cap
$2.19B
P/E
7.2x
Revenue (TTM)
$1.90B
Div. yield
–
Specialty Finance Financial Services
5 wins

Head to Head

11 decided of 12

Encore Capital leads on 5 of the 12 questions below (Encore Capital 5, Jefferson Capital 5, Burford Capital 1). Which ones matter depends on what you are buying for; a cheap multiple and slow growth often come together.

QuestionBURECPGJCAPLeader
Larger companyMarket capitalisation $757.31M $2.19B $1.10B ECPG
Cheaper on earningsLower P/E, profitable companies only -0.4x 7.2x 6.8x JCAP
Cheaper on forward earningsLower price / next fiscal year consensus EPS — 7.3x 7.1x JCAP
Faster revenue growthRevenue growth, trailing twelve months +196.5% +29.5% +30.8% BUR
More profitableNet margin, trailing twelve months -87.2% 15.9% 25.4% JCAP
Better return on capitalReturn on invested capital -38.4% 10.7% 13.2% JCAP
Less leveragedLower net debt / EBITDA — 5.4x 4.4x JCAP
Higher dividend yieldTrailing dividend yield 0.00% 0.00% 0.00% –
Better 1-year returnPrice return, last 12 months -65.4% +143.4% +5.7% ECPG
Better 5-year returnAnnualised price return, 5 years -19.8%/yr +13.6%/yr — ECPG
Less volatileAnnualised volatility, 1 year 82.4% 34.4% 35.8% ECPG
Higher overall scoreMean of the five percentile scores vs peers 22/100 69/100 54/100 ECPG

Percentile Scorecard

BURECPGJCAP

Each axis is the mean percentile of its metrics against the company's industry group. 100 is the best in the group, 50 the middle.

Scores by Axis

AxisBURECPGJCAP
Valuation 35 #111 of 169 69 #53 of 169 61 #67 of 169
Growth 8 #146 of 159 94 #10 of 159 61 #63 of 159
Profitability 19 #118 of 146 79 #31 of 146 97 #6 of 146
Financial Health 24 #117 of 153 25 #115 of 153 36 #99 of 153
Shareholder Returns 25 #102 of 135 75 #34 of 135 18 #111 of 135
Overall 22 69 54
  • BUR ranked among 174 companies in Lending and Credit
  • ECPG ranked among 174 companies in Lending and Credit
  • JCAP ranked among 174 companies in Lending and Credit

Price Performance

Price return, split-adjusted, before dividends. Click a name to hide or show it.

Returns

PeriodBURECPGJCAPSPY
1 month -11.0%+7.5%+4.2% +0.7%
3 months -17.1%+8.8%-0.6% +3.7%
6 months -29.3%+23.7%-3.9% +7.1%
Year to date -61.0%+88.3%-10.8% +12.8%
1 year -65.4%+143.4%+5.7% +11.9%
3 years -71.8%+168.7%— +85.2%
3 years, per year -34.5%+39.0%— +22.8%
5 years -66.9%+89.5%— +67.6%
5 years, per year -19.8%+13.6%— +10.9%
10 years -28.1%+418.3%— +262.0%
10 years, per year -3.2%+17.9%— +13.7%

Risk

MeasureBURECPGJCAPSPY
Volatility, 1Y 82.4%34.4%35.8% 12.7%
Downside volatility, 1Y 105.8%30.8%34.6% 12.6%
Beta vs S&P 500, 1Y 2.310.810.72 1.00
Return / volatility, 1Y -0.794.160.16 0.94
Max drawdown, 5Y -81.8%-62.5%-33.6% -25.4%
From 52-week high -65.4%-3.1%-17.0% -1.2%
52-week high $10.06$105.60$24.00 $779.14
52-week low $2.99$40.90$15.52 $631.97

Valuation History

Weekly multiples on trailing twelve-month fundamentals. Negative or extreme readings (a loss year, a collapsed denominator) are left out so the chart stays readable.

MultipleBURECPGJCAP
P/E now vs peer median -0.5xmedian 11.7x 7.3xmedian 11.7x 6.9xmedian 11.7x
P/S now vs peer median 0.4xmedian 2.7x 1.1xmedian 2.7x 1.8xmedian 2.7x
EV/EBITDA now vs peer median —median 13.1x 8.3xmedian 13.1x 8.0xmedian 13.1x
P/FCF now vs peer median -4.1xmedian 6.5x 17.3xmedian 6.5x —median 6.5x
P/B now vs peer median 0.5xmedian 0.7x 2.0xmedian 0.7x 2.4xmedian 0.7x
PEG now vs peer median —median 0.33 0.02median 0.33 —median 0.33

Financial History

Reported figures by fiscal period, placed on the calendar year (or quarter) each period ended in, so companies with different fiscal years line up.

Trailing twelve monthsBURECPGJCAP
Revenue $1.93B $1.90B $635.89M
Operating income -$1.49B $717.47M $308.67M
Net income -$1.69B $301.56M $165.04M
Free cash flow -$184.86M $125.14M –
EPS (diluted) $-7.49 $13.23 $2.90
Cash & equivalents $696.90M $182.93M $20.41M
Total debt $2.40B $4.18B $1.41B
Shares (diluted) 225.09M 22.79M 55.52M
Enterprise value -$1.89B $1.45B $966.36M

All Metrics

58 metrics · best in bold

Bold marks the best reading: the lowest positive value for multiples, leverage and payout, the highest for everything else. The bar under each value is its percentile against that company's own peers. Hover a value for its rank and the peer median.

Valuation

12 metrics
MetricBURECPGJCAP
P/E -0.5x 7.3x 6.9x
P/FCF -4.1x 17.3x –
P/Operating cash flow -4.1x 14.3x –
P/S 0.4x 1.1x 1.8x
P/B 0.5x 2.0x 2.4x
P/Tangible book 0.5x 2.0x 2.4x
EV/EBITDA – 8.3x 8.0x
EV/EBIT -1.7x 8.6x 8.2x
EV/Revenue 1.3x 3.2x 4.0x
EV/FCF -13.4x 49.3x –
EV/Operating cash flow -13.4x 40.8x –
PEG (3Y EPS CAGR) – 0.02 –

Growth

14 metrics
MetricBURECPGJCAP
Revenue growth (1Y) 196.5% 29.5% 30.8%
Revenue CAGR (3Y) – 17.3% –
Gross profit growth (1Y) – – –
Gross profit CAGR (3Y) – – –
Operating income growth (1Y) -414.8% 184.7% 21.1%
Operating income CAGR (3Y) – 44.8% –
Net income growth (1Y) -639.6% 438.3% 14.9%
Net income CAGR (3Y) – 350.1% –
EPS growth (1Y) -793.8% 450.0% -94.3%
EPS CAGR (3Y) – 359.7% –
Operating cash flow growth (1Y) -155.6% 21.8% –
Operating cash flow CAGR (3Y) – -4.7% –
Free cash flow growth (1Y) -155.8% 30.1% –
Free cash flow CAGR (3Y) – -3.7% –

Profitability

14 metrics
MetricBURECPGJCAP
Gross margin – – –
EBITDA margin – 39.2% 49.8%
Operating margin -77.3% 37.7% 48.5%
Pretax margin -87.5% 20.6% 32.2%
Net margin -87.2% 15.9% 25.4%
FCF margin -9.6% 6.6% –
Operating cash flow margin -9.5% 8.0% –
Return on equity -113.6% 28.5% 34.7%
Return on assets -39.7% 5.5% 7.9%
Return on invested capital -38.4% 10.7% 13.2%
Return on capital employed – – –
Asset turnover 0.5x 0.3x 0.3x
Cash conversion (OCF / net income) 0.1x 0.5x –
Stock comp / revenue 0.0% 1.1% 2.8%

Financial Health

11 metrics
MetricBURECPGJCAP
Debt / assets 56.3% 75.1% 67.5%
Debt / equity 1.6x 3.9x 3.0x
Net debt / EBITDA – 5.4x 4.4x
Debt / FCF -13.0x 33.4x –
Liabilities / assets 65.6% 80.6% 77.1%
Equity / assets 34.4% 19.4% 22.9%
Interest coverage -8.2x 2.4x 2.8x
Current ratio – – –
Quick ratio – – –
Cash ratio – – –
Altman Z-score – – –

Shareholder Returns

7 metrics
MetricBURECPGJCAP
Dividend yield 3.4% – 4.8%
Net buyback yield 0.5% 5.2% –
Shareholder yield 3.9% 5.2% 4.8%
Payout ratio (earnings) – – –
Payout ratio (FCF) – – –
Dividend growth (1Y) – – –
Dividend CAGR (3Y) – – –

Analyst Estimates

Solid lines are reported fiscal-year results; dashed lines are the consensus for the years ahead. Hover a year for the analysts' high and low, and how each result compared with its estimate.

ConsensusBURECPGJCAP
Forward P/E – 7.3xFY2026 7.1xFY2026
EPS, next fiscal year $-7.29FY2026 $14.11FY2026 $2.81FY2026
EPS growth, next FY -2,703.6%FY2026 +29.3%FY2026 -19.3%FY2026
EPS growth, the year after – +10.4% +1.4%
Revenue, next fiscal year -$1.34BFY2026 $1.84BFY2026 $755.54MFY2026
Revenue growth, next FY -424.6%FY2026 +4.0%FY2026 +23.2%FY2026
Revenue growth, the year after – +11.1% +2.0%

Institutional Ownership

13F filings, quarter ended Jun 30, 2026
HoldersBURECPGJCAP
Held by institutions 69.4% 100.0% 38.5%
Institutions holding 233 283 113
Change in shares held, QoQ +7.2% -3.8% +1.3%
Institutions buying 150 159 73
Institutions selling 47 91 24
Buyers to sellers 3.19 1.75 3.04

Return Correlation

Daily returns, last 12 months

1.00 means two stocks move in lockstep, 0 that they move independently. Pairs below about 0.5 diversify each other.

BURECPGJCAP
BUR 1.00 0.13 0.19
ECPG 0.13 1.00 0.43
JCAP 0.19 0.43 1.00

Add a Peer

Largest companies in the same industry

Related Comparisons

Frequently Asked Questions

Which is bigger, BUR, ECPG and JCAP?

Encore Capital (ECPG) is the largest by market capitalisation: Burford Capital (BUR) $757.31M, Encore Capital (ECPG) $2.19B, Jefferson Capital (JCAP) $1.10B.

Which stock is cheaper, BUR, ECPG and JCAP?

Jefferson Capital (JCAP) trades on the lowest price-to-earnings ratio (Burford Capital (BUR) -0.4x, Encore Capital (ECPG) 7.2x, Jefferson Capital (JCAP) 6.8x). On next year's consensus earnings, Jefferson Capital (JCAP) is cheapest (Encore Capital (ECPG) 7.3x, Jefferson Capital (JCAP) 7.1x). A lower multiple can reflect slower expected growth, so read it next to the growth figures.

Which company is growing faster?

Burford Capital (BUR) grew revenue fastest over the trailing twelve months: Burford Capital (BUR) +196.5%, Encore Capital (ECPG) +29.5%, Jefferson Capital (JCAP) +30.8%.

Which company is more profitable?

Jefferson Capital (JCAP) has the highest net margin (Burford Capital (BUR) -87.2%, Encore Capital (ECPG) 15.9%, Jefferson Capital (JCAP) 25.4%). On return on invested capital, Jefferson Capital (JCAP) leads (Burford Capital (BUR) -38.4%, Encore Capital (ECPG) 10.7%, Jefferson Capital (JCAP) 13.2%).

Which stock has performed better?

Over the past year Encore Capital (ECPG) returned the most: Burford Capital (BUR) -65.4%, Encore Capital (ECPG) +143.4%, Jefferson Capital (JCAP) +5.7%. Over five years, Encore Capital (ECPG) compounded fastest (Burford Capital (BUR) -19.8%/yr, Encore Capital (ECPG) +13.6%/yr). Returns are price only, before dividends.

Which stock is riskier?

By one-year price volatility, Encore Capital (ECPG) has been the steadiest (Burford Capital (BUR) 82.4%, Encore Capital (ECPG) 34.4%, Jefferson Capital (JCAP) 35.8%). Volatility measures how widely the price swings, not the risk of the business.

Which is the better stock, BUR, ECPG and JCAP?

There is no single answer; it depends on what you are buying for. On the 12 head-to-head measures on this page, Encore Capital (ECPG) leads on 5. Business Quant does not give investment advice; use the comparison as a starting point for your own research.

Data from SEC filings, exchange prices and consensus estimates, via Business Quant. Percentile scores compare each company with its own peer group, so two companies' scores are each relative to different peers unless you rank against the whole market. Price returns exclude dividends. Nothing on this page is investment advice.