Ellington Credit Company (NYSE:EARN) Short Interest Up 75.8% in April

Ellington Credit Company (NYSE:EARN) saw a significant increase in short interest in April. As of April 30th, there was short interest totaling 1,625,425 shares, an increase of 75.8% from the April 15th total of 924,751 shares. Currently, 4.4% of the shares of the stock are sold short. Based on an average daily trading volume, of 482,229 shares, the short-interest ratio is currently 3.4 days.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research analysts have recently commented on EARN shares. Piper Sandler reduced their target price on Ellington Credit from $6.00 to $5.50 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, March 6th. Wall Street Zen upgraded Ellington Credit from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Saturday, April 4th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Buy rating and one has assigned a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $5.75.

Ellington Credit Stock Performance

EARN traded down $0.04 during midday trading on Tuesday, reaching $4.73. 38,281 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 456,165. The stock has a market capitalization of $177.58 million, a P/E ratio of -11.52 and a beta of 1.27. Ellington Credit has a one year low of $4.27 and a one year high of $6.08. The stock’s 50-day simple moving average is $4.61 and its 200 day simple moving average is $5.04.

Ellington Credit (NYSE:EARN) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, March 4th. The real estate investment trust reported $0.21 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.24 by ($0.03). The firm had revenue of ($17.48) million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $12.71 million. Ellington Credit had a positive return on equity of 16.47% and a negative net margin of 34.31%.

Ellington Credit Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a monthly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, June 30th. Shareholders of record on Friday, May 29th will be issued a dividend of $0.08 per share. The ex-dividend date is Friday, May 29th. This represents a c) annualized dividend and a yield of 20.3%. Ellington Credit’s payout ratio is currently -234.15%.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Ellington Credit

Several large investors have recently modified their holdings of the business. Waverly Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Ellington Credit by 85.8% during the 1st quarter. Waverly Advisors LLC now owns 167,250 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $741,000 after purchasing an additional 77,250 shares in the last quarter. World Investment Advisors acquired a new stake in Ellington Credit during the 4th quarter worth approximately $115,000. Virtu Financial LLC bought a new position in Ellington Credit in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $57,000. Quadrature Capital Ltd acquired a new position in shares of Ellington Credit in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $75,000. Finally, Jane Street Group LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Ellington Credit by 70.8% in the fourth quarter. Jane Street Group LLC now owns 135,107 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $712,000 after buying an additional 56,012 shares during the period. 20.40% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

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.