Ellington Credit Company (NYSE:EARN) Short Interest Up 133.4% in February

Ellington Credit Company (NYSE:EARN) was the target of a significant growth in short interest in the month of February. As of February 27th, there was short interest totaling 1,274,728 shares, a growth of 133.4% from the February 12th total of 546,100 shares. Based on an average daily volume of 695,400 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is presently 1.8 days. Approximately 3.4% of the shares of the stock are sold short. Approximately 3.4% of the shares of the stock are sold short. Based on an average daily volume of 695,400 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is presently 1.8 days.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Ellington Credit

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of EARN. Virtu Financial LLC acquired a new position in Ellington Credit in the 4th quarter worth about $57,000. Quadrature Capital Ltd acquired a new stake in shares of Ellington Credit during the fourth quarter valued at about $75,000. Engineers Gate Manager LP bought a new stake in shares of Ellington Credit during the second quarter worth about $83,000. Inspire Advisors LLC increased its stake in shares of Ellington Credit by 13.7% in the second quarter. Inspire Advisors LLC now owns 19,566 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $113,000 after buying an additional 2,363 shares during the period. Finally, World Investment Advisors acquired a new position in shares of Ellington Credit in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $115,000. Institutional investors own 20.40% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities analysts have recently commented on EARN shares. UBS Group set a $6.00 target price on shares of Ellington Credit in a research report on Tuesday, December 23rd. Piper Sandler reduced their price target on shares of Ellington Credit from $6.00 to $5.50 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, March 6th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Buy rating and one has assigned a Hold rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $5.75.

Ellington Credit Stock Performance

Shares of EARN traded down $0.13 during mid-day trading on Friday, reaching $4.48. The company had a trading volume of 341,317 shares, compared to its average volume of 631,470. The company has a market capitalization of $168.08 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of -10.91 and a beta of 1.29. The company’s 50 day simple moving average is $5.22 and its 200 day simple moving average is $5.32. Ellington Credit has a 1-year low of $4.32 and a 1-year high of $6.08.

Ellington Credit (NYSE:EARN) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, March 4th. The real estate investment trust reported $0.21 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.24 by ($0.03). Ellington Credit had a negative net margin of 34.31% and a positive return on equity of 16.47%. The company had revenue of $11.12 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $12.71 million. As a group, equities analysts forecast that Ellington Credit will post 1.17 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Ellington Credit Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a monthly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, April 30th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, March 31st will be paid a $0.08 dividend. This represents a c) dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 21.5%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, March 31st. Ellington Credit’s dividend payout ratio is presently -234.15%.

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.