Eagle Point Credit Company Inc. Declares Monthly Dividend of $0.06 (NYSE:ECC)

Eagle Point Credit Company Inc. (NYSE:ECC) announced a monthly dividend on Tuesday, February 17th. Shareholders of record on Friday, April 10th will be paid a dividend of 0.06 per share by the investment management company on Thursday, April 30th. This represents a c) annualized dividend and a yield of 17.3%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, April 10th.

Eagle Point Credit has decreased its dividend by an average of 0.0%annually over the last three years. Eagle Point Credit has a payout ratio of 178.7% indicating that the company cannot currently cover its dividend with earnings alone and is relying on its balance sheet to cover its dividend payments. Equities analysts expect Eagle Point Credit to earn $1.10 per share next year, which means the company may not be able to cover its $1.68 annual dividend with an expected future payout ratio of 152.7%.

Eagle Point Credit Stock Performance

Shares of ECC stock traded down $0.30 during mid-day trading on Tuesday, reaching $4.17. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 9,378,287 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,464,948. The firm’s 50-day moving average is $5.55 and its two-hundred day moving average is $6.20. The company has a market cap of $526.80 million, a P/E ratio of 21.95 and a beta of 0.28. Eagle Point Credit has a 1-year low of $3.95 and a 1-year high of $8.86.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities research analysts have weighed in on ECC shares. Zacks Research raised Eagle Point Credit from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday, December 16th. Credit Suisse Group set a $7.00 price target on Eagle Point Credit in a research report on Thursday, November 20th. Finally, B. Riley Financial cut their price objective on Eagle Point Credit from $10.00 to $7.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, November 20th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, three have issued a Buy rating and two have given a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $7.46.

Eagle Point Credit Company Profile

Eagle Point Credit Company is a closed-end, non-diversified management investment company that seeks to generate attractive risk-adjusted returns primarily through investments in collateralized loan obligations (CLOs) and related structured credit instruments. The firm is externally managed by Eagle Point Credit Management, LLC, a specialized credit asset manager focused on the structured credit markets. Eagle Point Credit Company’s shares trade on the New York Stock Exchange under the ticker symbol ECC.

The company’s investment strategy centers on acquiring both equity and debt tranches of actively managed CLOs alongside opportunistic positions in senior secured loans, high-yield bonds and credit derivatives.