Ellington Credit (NYSE:EARN) Upgraded at StockNews.com

StockNews.com upgraded shares of Ellington Credit (NYSE:EARN) from a sell rating to a hold rating in a research report released on Wednesday morning.

Ellington Credit Price Performance

Shares of Ellington Credit stock opened at $6.57 on Wednesday. The stock has a market cap of $189.07 million, a PE ratio of 5.86 and a beta of 1.87. The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $6.77 and a 200 day moving average price of $6.91. Ellington Credit has a 1 year low of $5.54 and a 1 year high of $7.26.

Ellington Credit (NYSE:EARN) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, November 12th. The real estate investment trust reported $0.28 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.27 by $0.01. Ellington Credit had a return on equity of 15.81% and a net margin of 226.01%. The company had revenue of $4.75 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $7.55 million. During the same period last year, the business earned $0.21 earnings per share. As a group, equities analysts expect that Ellington Credit will post 1.16 EPS for the current year.

Ellington Credit Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a monthly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, December 26th. Shareholders of record on Friday, November 29th will be issued a $0.08 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, November 29th. This represents a $0.96 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 14.62%. Ellington Credit’s payout ratio is 85.71%.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Ellington Credit

Hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the company. Clear Harbor Asset Management LLC purchased a new position in shares of Ellington Credit in the 3rd quarter valued at about $1,412,000. Renaissance Technologies LLC grew its holdings 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 purchasing an additional 282,600 shares during the period. International Assets Investment Management LLC acquired a new stake in Ellington Credit in the third quarter valued at approximately $468,000. Barclays PLC purchased a new stake in shares of Ellington Credit in the third quarter valued at approximately $334,000. Finally, Geode Capital Management LLC raised its stake in shares of Ellington Credit by 21.6% during the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 269,850 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $1,885,000 after buying an additional 47,998 shares during the period. 20.40% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.