Ellington Credit (NYSE:EARN) Cut to “Sell” at Wall Street Zen

Wall Street Zen cut shares of Ellington Credit (NYSE:EARN) from a hold rating to a sell rating in a report issued on Saturday.

Several other brokerages also recently issued reports on EARN. UBS Group set a $6.00 price target on shares of Ellington Credit in a report on Tuesday, December 23rd. Piper Sandler cut their price objective on Ellington Credit from $6.00 to $5.50 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, March 6th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Buy rating and one has issued a Hold rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $5.75.

Ellington Credit Trading Up 0.1%

Shares of Ellington Credit stock opened at $4.50 on Friday. The firm’s 50 day moving average is $5.20 and its 200 day moving average is $5.30. The firm has a market capitalization of $168.83 million, a PE ratio of -10.96 and a beta of 1.29. 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, research analysts anticipate that Ellington Credit will post 1.17 earnings per share for the current year.

Ellington Credit Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a monthly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, April 30th. Investors of record on Tuesday, March 31st will be given a dividend of $0.08 per share. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, March 31st. This represents a c) annualized dividend and a yield of 21.4%. Ellington Credit’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently -234.15%.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Ellington Credit

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Virtu Financial LLC bought a new position in shares of Ellington Credit during the fourth quarter valued at $57,000. Quadrature Capital Ltd bought a new stake in shares of Ellington Credit in the fourth quarter worth $75,000. Engineers Gate Manager LP bought a new stake in shares of Ellington Credit in the second quarter worth $83,000. Inspire Advisors LLC increased its holdings in 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 purchasing an additional 2,363 shares during the period. Finally, World Investment Advisors acquired a new stake in Ellington Credit in the fourth quarter valued at $115,000. 20.40% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.