Ellington Credit (NYSE:EARN) Price Target Lowered to $5.50 at Piper Sandler

Ellington Credit (NYSE:EARN) had its price target trimmed by Piper Sandler from $6.00 to $5.50 in a report released on Friday morning,Benzinga reports. The brokerage currently has an overweight rating on the real estate investment trust’s stock.

EARN has been the topic of several other reports. Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of Ellington Credit from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday, November 11th. UBS Group set a $6.00 target price on Ellington Credit in a report on Tuesday, December 23rd. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Buy rating and one has given a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, Ellington Credit has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $5.75.

Ellington Credit Trading Down 6.5%

Shares of EARN traded down $0.32 during midday trading on Friday, hitting $4.59. The stock had a trading volume of 1,043,084 shares, compared to its average volume of 565,381. Ellington Credit has a fifty-two week low of $4.32 and a fifty-two week high of $6.46. The business has a 50-day simple moving average of $5.29 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $5.36. The firm has a market cap of $172.40 million, a P/E ratio of -11.20 and a beta of 1.29.

Ellington Credit (NYSE:EARN) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, March 4th. The real estate investment trust reported $0.21 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.24 by ($0.03). The firm had revenue of $11.12 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $12.71 million. Ellington Credit had a negative net margin of 34.31% and a positive return on equity of 16.47%. On average, analysts expect that Ellington Credit will post 1.17 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Ellington Credit Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a monthly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, March 31st. Stockholders of record on Friday, February 27th will be given a $0.08 dividend. This represents a c) dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 20.9%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, February 27th. Ellington Credit’s dividend payout ratio is 1,200.00%.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Millennium Management LLC increased its holdings in Ellington Credit by 485.8% in the first quarter. Millennium Management LLC now owns 932,326 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $5,044,000 after buying an additional 773,169 shares during the last quarter. Delphi Financial Group Inc. lifted its stake in Ellington Credit by 230.8% in the second quarter. Delphi Financial Group Inc. now owns 608,700 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $3,500,000 after acquiring an additional 424,700 shares during the last quarter. Jane Street Group LLC grew its position in Ellington Credit by 415.4% in the first quarter. Jane Street Group LLC now owns 379,906 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $2,055,000 after acquiring an additional 306,192 shares in the last quarter. HighTower Advisors LLC bought a new stake in Ellington Credit in the fourth quarter worth approximately $369,000. Finally, Goldman Sachs Group Inc. increased its stake in shares of Ellington Credit by 56.6% during the 1st quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. now owns 126,864 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $686,000 after purchasing an additional 45,845 shares during the last quarter. 20.40% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Ellington Credit Company Profile

Ellington Credit Income Fund (NYSE: EARN) is a closed-end management investment company that seeks to generate current income through a diversified portfolio of mortgage- and asset-backed securities. The fund primarily invests in residential mortgage-backed securities (RMBS) and asset-backed securities (ABS), with additional exposure to commercial mortgage-backed securities (CMBS) and related structured credit instruments. To enhance income and manage risk, the fund employs leverage and derivative strategies such as interest rate swaps and credit default swaps, allowing it to adjust duration and credit exposure dynamically.

The fund is externally managed and advised by Ellington Management Group, LLC, an established investment firm specializing in mortgage credit and structured products.