Eagle Point Credit (NYSE:ECC) Releases Quarterly Earnings Results, Misses Estimates By $0.03 EPS

Eagle Point Credit (NYSE:ECC) released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday. The investment management company reported $0.20 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.23 by ($0.03), Zacks reports. Eagle Point Credit had a return on equity of 13.47% and a net margin of 12.33%.

Eagle Point Credit Trading Down 0.1%

Shares of NYSE:ECC opened at $4.03 on Tuesday. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $3.93 and a 200 day moving average of $4.94. The company has a market cap of $532.15 million, a PE ratio of 21.19 and a beta of 0.35. Eagle Point Credit has a 12-month low of $3.46 and a 12-month high of $7.99.

Eagle Point Credit Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a monthly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, September 30th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, September 10th will be issued a dividend of $0.06 per share. This represents a c) annualized dividend and a yield of 17.9%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, September 10th. Eagle Point Credit’s payout ratio is currently 800.00%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, Portfolio Manager Daniel W. Ko purchased 57,165 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, March 18th. The shares were acquired at an average price of $3.50 per share, with a total value of $200,077.50. Following the completion of the acquisition, the portfolio manager directly owned 82,665 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $289,327.50. This trade represents a 224.18% increase in their ownership of the stock. The acquisition was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. 0.26% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Trading of Eagle Point Credit

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the company. Geneos Wealth Management Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Eagle Point Credit during the 2nd quarter valued at $33,000. Royal Bank of Canada increased its stake in Eagle Point Credit by 135.5% in the 4th quarter. Royal Bank of Canada now owns 5,600 shares of the investment management company’s stock worth $32,000 after buying an additional 3,222 shares in the last quarter. TCTC Holdings LLC raised its holdings in Eagle Point Credit by 45.5% during the fourth quarter. TCTC Holdings LLC now owns 8,000 shares of the investment management company’s stock valued at $46,000 after acquiring an additional 2,500 shares during the period. Tower Research Capital LLC TRC purchased a new position in shares of Eagle Point Credit in the second quarter valued at about $65,000. Finally, Abel Hall LLC bought a new position in shares of Eagle Point Credit in the third quarter worth about $66,000. 19.50% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research firms recently commented on ECC. Credit Suisse Group set a $5.00 price objective on Eagle Point Credit in a research report on Wednesday, February 18th. B. Riley Financial dropped their target price on Eagle Point Credit from $7.00 to $4.25 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, March 16th. Zacks Research upgraded Eagle Point Credit from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, May 1st. LADENBURG THALM/SH SH lowered shares of Eagle Point Credit from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating in a research report on Monday, March 2nd. Finally, Alliance Global Partners reiterated a “buy” rating on shares of Eagle Point Credit in a research note on Wednesday, April 15th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and three have given a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $6.67.

About Eagle Point Credit

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.