StockNews.com Downgrades Ellington Credit (NYSE:EARN) to Sell

StockNews.com lowered shares of Ellington Credit (NYSE:EARN) from a hold rating to a sell rating in a research note released on Tuesday.

Ellington Credit Stock Up 1.1 %

Shares of NYSE:EARN traded up $0.07 during trading on Tuesday, reaching $6.40. The stock had a trading volume of 135,279 shares, compared to its average volume of 324,593. Ellington Credit has a 52 week low of $5.54 and a 52 week high of $7.26. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $6.79 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $6.91. The firm has a market capitalization of $162.11 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of 5.65 and a beta of 1.87.

Ellington Credit (NYSE:EARN) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, November 12th. The real estate investment trust reported $0.28 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.27 by $0.01. The business had revenue of $4.75 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $7.55 million. Ellington Credit had a return on equity of 17.20% and a net margin of 226.01%. During the same period last year, the business earned $0.21 earnings per share. On average, analysts forecast that Ellington Credit will post 1.16 EPS for the current year.

Ellington Credit Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a monthly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, December 26th. Investors of record on Friday, November 29th will be given a $0.08 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, November 29th. This represents a $0.96 annualized dividend and a yield of 15.00%. Ellington Credit’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 85.71%.

Institutional Trading of Ellington Credit

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Renaissance Technologies LLC boosted its position in Ellington Credit by 78.5% in the second quarter. Renaissance Technologies LLC now owns 642,419 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $4,465,000 after buying an additional 282,600 shares in the last quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of Ellington Credit during the third quarter valued at $468,000. Clear Harbor Asset Management LLC bought a new position in Ellington Credit in the third quarter valued at about $1,412,000. Thrivent Financial for Lutherans increased its position in Ellington Credit by 3.8% in the third quarter. Thrivent Financial for Lutherans now owns 79,466 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $554,000 after purchasing an additional 2,895 shares during the period. Finally, Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. bought a new stake in Ellington Credit during the 3rd quarter worth about $170,000. Institutional investors own 20.40% of the company’s stock.

About Ellington Credit

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.