Ellington Credit (NYSE:EARN) Issues Earnings Results

Ellington Credit (NYSE:EARN) announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday. The real estate investment trust reported $0.23 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.20 by $0.03, Zacks reports. The company had revenue of $11.88 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $11.41 million. Ellington Credit had a net margin of 19.24% and a return on equity of 15.90%.

Ellington Credit Stock Down 1.5%

Shares of NYSE:EARN opened at $5.10 on Thursday. The company has a market cap of $191.37 million, a PE ratio of 28.31 and a beta of 1.32. Ellington Credit has a fifty-two week low of $4.32 and a fifty-two week high of $6.99. The firm has a 50-day simple moving average of $5.33 and a 200 day simple moving average of $5.58.

Ellington Credit Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a monthly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, December 31st. Investors of record on Friday, November 28th will be given a dividend of $0.08 per share. This represents a c) dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 18.8%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, November 28th. Ellington Credit’s dividend payout ratio is currently 533.33%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities analysts have recently commented on EARN shares. UBS Group reduced their price target on shares of Ellington Credit from $5.75 to $5.25 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, October 14th. Wall Street Zen upgraded Ellington Credit from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday, November 11th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Buy rating and one has issued a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $5.88.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Ellington Credit

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Engineers Gate Manager LP bought a new stake in shares of Ellington Credit in the 2nd quarter worth approximately $83,000. Vident Advisory LLC grew its stake in Ellington Credit by 109.1% during the 2nd quarter. Vident Advisory LLC now owns 36,350 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $209,000 after buying an additional 18,967 shares during the last quarter. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. increased its position in Ellington Credit by 6.5% in the third quarter. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. now owns 76,237 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $415,000 after buying an additional 4,675 shares during the period. Osaic Holdings Inc. lifted its stake in Ellington Credit by 60.3% in the second quarter. Osaic Holdings Inc. now owns 104,689 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $602,000 after buying an additional 39,392 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Goldman Sachs Group Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Ellington Credit by 56.6% during the first quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. now owns 126,864 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $686,000 after acquiring an additional 45,845 shares during the period. 20.40% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

About Ellington Credit

Ellington Credit Company, a real estate investment trust, acquires, invests in, and manages residential mortgage-and real estate-related assets. It acquires and manages residential mortgage-backed securities (RMBS), including agency pools and agency collateralized mortgage obligations (CMOs); and non-agency RMBS, such as non-agency CMOs, such as investment grade and non-investment grade.