Ellington Credit (NYSE:EARN) Announces Earnings Results

Ellington Credit (NYSE:EARN) announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday. The real estate investment trust reported $0.21 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.24 by ($0.03), Zacks reports. Ellington Credit had a positive return on equity of 16.47% and a negative net margin of 34.31%.The company had revenue of $11.12 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $12.71 million.

Ellington Credit Trading Down 3.3%

Shares of EARN traded down $0.16 during midday trading on Friday, reaching $4.75. 305,625 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 497,182. Ellington Credit has a 52 week low of $4.32 and a 52 week high of $6.46. The company’s 50 day moving average is $5.30 and its two-hundred day moving average is $5.36. The company has a market capitalization of $178.41 million, a P/E ratio of -11.59 and a beta of 1.29.

Ellington Credit Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a monthly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, March 31st. Shareholders of record on Friday, February 27th will be issued a $0.08 dividend. This represents a c) annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 20.2%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, February 27th. Ellington Credit’s dividend payout ratio is currently 1,200.00%.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Ellington Credit

A number of large investors have recently bought and sold shares of EARN. Millennium Management LLC boosted its stake in Ellington Credit by 485.8% in the 1st 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. Jane Street Group LLC increased its position in shares of Ellington Credit by 415.4% in the 1st quarter. Jane Street Group LLC now owns 379,906 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $2,055,000 after acquiring an additional 306,192 shares during the period. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. increased its position in shares of Ellington Credit by 56.6% in the 1st quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. now owns 126,864 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $686,000 after acquiring an additional 45,845 shares during the period. Osaic Holdings Inc. raised its stake in Ellington Credit by 60.3% in the 2nd quarter. Osaic Holdings Inc. now owns 104,689 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $602,000 after acquiring an additional 39,392 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Envestnet Asset Management Inc. lifted its position in Ellington Credit by 6.5% during the 3rd quarter. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. now owns 76,237 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $415,000 after acquiring an additional 4,675 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 20.40% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities research analysts have recently issued reports on the company. UBS Group set a $6.00 target price on Ellington Credit in a report on Tuesday, December 23rd. Piper Sandler decreased their price objective on Ellington Credit from $6.00 to $5.50 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Friday. Finally, Wall Street Zen raised shares of Ellington Credit from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday, November 11th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Buy rating and one has assigned a Hold rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Ellington Credit presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $5.75.

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.