Eagle Point Credit Company Inc. (NYSE:ECC) Sees Large Growth in Short Interest

Eagle Point Credit Company Inc. (NYSE:ECC) was the target of a large increase in short interest during the month of August. As of August 31st, there was short interest totalling 656,600 shares, an increase of 23.0% from the August 15th total of 533,900 shares. Based on an average trading volume of 1,016,400 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is presently 0.6 days.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Separately, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods lowered their price objective on Eagle Point Credit from $10.50 to $10.00 and set a “market perform” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, August 7th.

Institutional Trading of Eagle Point Credit

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Main Street Financial Solutions LLC raised its holdings in Eagle Point Credit by 95.6% in the 2nd quarter. Main Street Financial Solutions LLC now owns 147,447 shares of the investment management company’s stock worth $1,482,000 after purchasing an additional 72,067 shares in the last quarter. Quadrature Capital Ltd bought a new position in Eagle Point Credit in the fourth quarter worth about $1,192,000. Wedbush Securities Inc. lifted its holdings in Eagle Point Credit by 26.2% in the second quarter. Wedbush Securities Inc. now owns 438,276 shares of the investment management company’s stock worth $4,405,000 after buying an additional 91,058 shares during the period. BI Asset Management Fondsmaeglerselskab A S boosted its position in Eagle Point Credit by 5.3% during the 4th quarter. BI Asset Management Fondsmaeglerselskab A S now owns 96,127 shares of the investment management company’s stock valued at $913,000 after acquiring an additional 4,881 shares in the last quarter. Finally, PFG Investments LLC grew its holdings in shares of Eagle Point Credit by 115.8% during the 2nd quarter. PFG Investments LLC now owns 387,398 shares of the investment management company’s stock worth $3,893,000 after acquiring an additional 207,875 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 19.50% of the company’s stock.

Eagle Point Credit Stock Performance

Shares of ECC opened at $9.80 on Friday. The stock has a market capitalization of $754.11 million, a P/E ratio of 5.27 and a beta of 0.76. Eagle Point Credit has a twelve month low of $8.60 and a twelve month high of $10.49. The company has a quick ratio of 2.98, a current ratio of 2.98 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.19. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $9.93 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $10.05.

Eagle Point Credit (NYSE:ECC) last posted its earnings results on Tuesday, August 6th. The investment management company reported $0.28 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.36 by ($0.08). Eagle Point Credit had a return on equity of 12.87% and a net margin of 76.61%. The firm had revenue of $42.28 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $45.67 million. On average, research analysts anticipate that Eagle Point Credit will post 1.28 EPS for the current year.

Eagle Point Credit Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a monthly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, December 31st. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, December 11th will be paid a dividend of $0.14 per share. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, December 11th. This represents a $1.68 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 17.14%. Eagle Point Credit’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 90.32%.

Eagle Point Credit Company Profile

Eagle Point Credit Company Inc is a closed ended fund launched and managed by Eagle Point Credit Management LLC. It invests in fixed income markets of the United States. The fund invests equity and junior debt tranches of collateralized loan obligations consisting primarily of below investment grade U.S.