Short Interest in Ellington Credit Company (NYSE:EARN) Declines By 43.8%

Ellington Credit Company (NYSE:EARN) saw a large decrease in short interest during the month of June. As of June 15th, there was short interest totaling 763,352 shares, a decrease of 43.8% from the May 31st total of 1,359,107 shares. Based on an average daily volume of 310,444 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is currently 2.5 days. Approximately 2.1% of the company’s stock are short sold.

Ellington Credit Trading Down 0.3%

EARN stock traded down $0.01 on Thursday, hitting $4.37. The company had a trading volume of 309,327 shares, compared to its average volume of 451,526. Ellington Credit has a 12-month low of $4.27 and a 12-month high of $6.08. The stock has a market cap of $164.04 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of -4.20 and a beta of 1.27. The stock’s 50-day simple moving average is $4.67 and its 200 day simple moving average is $4.90.

Ellington Credit (NYSE:EARN) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, May 20th. The real estate investment trust reported $0.19 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.22 by ($0.03). The firm had revenue of $9.87 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $10.57 million.

Ellington Credit Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a monthly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, July 31st. Investors of record on Tuesday, June 30th will be issued a $0.08 dividend. This represents a c) annualized dividend and a yield of 22.0%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, June 30th. Ellington Credit’s dividend payout ratio is currently -92.31%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research analysts have recently issued reports on the stock. Piper Sandler dropped their target price on shares of Ellington Credit from $6.00 to $5.50 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, March 6th. Wall Street Zen raised shares of Ellington Credit from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Saturday, April 4th. One investment 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, Ellington Credit has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $5.75.

Institutional Trading of Ellington Credit

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the company. Jane Street Group LLC raised its stake in Ellington Credit by 70.8% during the 4th quarter. Jane Street Group LLC now owns 135,107 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $712,000 after purchasing an additional 56,012 shares during the period. HighTower Advisors LLC bought a new position in Ellington Credit in the 4th quarter worth approximately $369,000. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. grew its holdings in Ellington Credit by 6.5% during the 3rd quarter. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. now owns 76,237 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $415,000 after buying an additional 4,675 shares in the last quarter. Osaic Holdings Inc. raised its position in shares of 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 buying an additional 39,392 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Vident Advisory LLC increased its holdings in shares of Ellington Credit by 109.1% in the second quarter. Vident Advisory LLC now owns 36,350 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $209,000 after purchasing an additional 18,967 shares during the last quarter. 20.40% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.