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

Wall Street Zen downgraded shares of Ellington Credit (NYSE:EARN) from a hold rating to a sell rating in a research report released on Monday morning.

Separately, UBS Group dropped their target price on Ellington Credit from $5.75 to $5.25 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, October 14th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Buy rating and one has assigned a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $5.88.

Ellington Credit Stock Performance

Shares of EARN stock opened at $5.05 on Monday. The stock’s 50-day simple moving average is $5.43 and its 200-day simple moving average is $5.60. The firm has a market capitalization of $189.68 million, a PE ratio of 28.06 and a beta of 1.32. Ellington Credit has a fifty-two week low of $4.32 and a fifty-two week high of $6.99.

Ellington Credit (NYSE:EARN) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, August 19th. The real estate investment trust reported $0.18 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.20 by ($0.02). The firm had revenue of $9.87 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $12.15 million. Ellington Credit had a net margin of 19.24% and a return on equity of 15.90%. Sell-side analysts forecast that Ellington Credit will post 1.17 earnings per share for the current year.

Ellington Credit Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a oct 25 dividend, which will be paid on Friday, November 28th. Shareholders of record on Friday, October 31st will be given a dividend of $0.08 per share. The ex-dividend date is Friday, October 31st. This represents a yield of 1,877.0%. Ellington Credit’s dividend payout ratio is currently 533.33%.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Ellington Credit

A number of hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the business. Millennium Management LLC boosted its position in Ellington Credit by 485.8% during the first quarter. Millennium Management LLC now owns 932,326 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $5,044,000 after purchasing an additional 773,169 shares in the last quarter. Delphi Financial Group Inc. boosted its position in Ellington Credit by 230.8% during the second quarter. Delphi Financial Group Inc. now owns 608,700 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $3,500,000 after purchasing an additional 424,700 shares in the last quarter. Jane Street Group LLC boosted its position in Ellington Credit by 415.4% during the first quarter. Jane Street Group LLC now owns 379,906 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $2,055,000 after purchasing an additional 306,192 shares in the last quarter. Clear Harbor Asset Management LLC boosted its position in Ellington Credit by 21.6% during the second quarter. Clear Harbor Asset Management LLC now owns 350,500 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $2,015,000 after purchasing an additional 62,200 shares in the last quarter. Finally, OMERS ADMINISTRATION Corp boosted its position in Ellington Credit by 103.8% during the first quarter. OMERS ADMINISTRATION Corp now owns 186,300 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $1,008,000 after purchasing an additional 94,900 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 20.40% of the company’s stock.

Ellington Credit Company Profile

Ellington Credit Company, a real estate investment trust, acquires, invests in, and manages residential mortgage-and real estate-related assets. It acquires and manages residential mortgage-backed securities (RMBS), including agency pools and agency collateralized mortgage obligations (CMOs); and non-agency RMBS, such as non-agency CMOs, such as investment grade and non-investment grade.