Ellington Credit (NYSE:EARN) Raised to “Hold” at Wall Street Zen

Ellington Credit (NYSE:EARN) was upgraded by investment analysts at Wall Street Zen from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note issued on Saturday.

Several other analysts also recently commented on EARN. UBS Group set a $6.00 target price on Ellington Credit in a research note on Tuesday, December 23rd. Piper Sandler decreased their price target on Ellington Credit from $6.00 to $5.50 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, March 6th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Buy rating and one has given a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $5.75.

Ellington Credit Stock Performance

Shares of Ellington Credit stock opened at $4.56 on Friday. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $4.90 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $5.18. The stock has a market capitalization of $171.13 million, a PE ratio of -11.11 and a beta of 1.29. Ellington Credit has a 52-week low of $4.27 and a 52-week high of $6.08.

Ellington Credit (NYSE:EARN) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, March 4th. The real estate investment trust reported $0.21 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 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%. As a group, equities research analysts forecast that Ellington Credit will post 1.17 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Ellington Credit

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the business. Millennium Management LLC lifted its stake in shares of Ellington Credit by 485.8% in the 1st quarter. Millennium Management LLC now owns 932,326 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $5,044,000 after purchasing an additional 773,169 shares during the period. Jane Street Group LLC increased its holdings in Ellington Credit by 415.4% during the first quarter. Jane Street Group LLC now owns 379,906 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $2,055,000 after buying an additional 306,192 shares during the last quarter. HighTower Advisors LLC bought a new position in Ellington Credit in the fourth quarter worth approximately $369,000. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. raised its holdings in Ellington Credit by 56.6% in 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 period. Finally, Osaic Holdings Inc. lifted its position in Ellington Credit by 60.3% during the second quarter. Osaic Holdings Inc. now owns 104,689 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $602,000 after purchasing an additional 39,392 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 20.40% of the company’s stock.

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.