Ellington Credit Company (NYSE:EARN) Short Interest Up 75.8% in April

Ellington Credit Company (NYSE:EARN) was the recipient of a significant increase in short interest in the month of April. As of April 30th, there was short interest totaling 1,625,425 shares, an increase of 75.8% from the April 15th total of 924,751 shares. Currently, 4.4% of the shares of the stock are sold short. Based on an average daily volume of 482,229 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is currently 3.4 days.

Ellington Credit Trading Down 0.5%

Shares of Ellington Credit stock traded down $0.03 on Monday, hitting $4.80. 215,096 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 459,486. The firm’s 50-day simple moving average is $4.62 and its 200 day simple moving average is $5.05. The company has a market cap of $180.20 million, a P/E ratio of -11.70 and a beta of 1.27. Ellington Credit has a 12-month low of $4.27 and a 12-month high of $6.08.

Ellington Credit (NYSE:EARN) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, March 4th. The real estate investment trust reported $0.21 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.24 by ($0.03). The company had revenue of ($17.48) million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $12.71 million. Ellington Credit had a negative net margin of 34.31% and a positive return on equity of 16.47%.

Ellington Credit Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a monthly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, June 30th. Stockholders of record on Friday, May 29th will be given a dividend of $0.08 per share. The ex-dividend date is Friday, May 29th. This represents a c) annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 20.0%. Ellington Credit’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is -234.15%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

EARN has been the topic of several research analyst reports. Wall Street Zen raised shares of Ellington Credit from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Saturday, April 4th. Piper Sandler decreased their price target on shares of Ellington Credit from $6.00 to $5.50 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, March 6th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Buy rating and one has issued a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $5.75.

Institutional Trading of Ellington Credit

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Virtu Financial LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Ellington Credit during the 4th quarter valued at $57,000. Quadrature Capital Ltd purchased a new stake in Ellington Credit during the fourth quarter valued at about $75,000. Engineers Gate Manager LP purchased a new stake in Ellington Credit during the second quarter valued at about $83,000. World Investment Advisors purchased a new stake in Ellington Credit during the fourth quarter valued at about $115,000. Finally, Vident Advisory LLC boosted its position in Ellington Credit by 109.1% during the second quarter. Vident Advisory LLC now owns 36,350 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $209,000 after buying an additional 18,967 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 20.40% of the company’s stock.

About Ellington Credit

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.