Eagle Point Credit Company Inc. (NYSE:ECC) Short Interest Up 17.9% in March

Eagle Point Credit Company Inc. (NYSE:ECC) was the recipient of a large growth in short interest during the month of March. As of March 31st, there was short interest totalling 1,580,000 shares, a growth of 17.9% from the March 15th total of 1,340,000 shares. Approximately 2.1% of the company’s shares are short sold. Based on an average daily volume of 1,275,500 shares, the short-interest ratio is currently 1.2 days.

Eagle Point Credit Stock Performance

Eagle Point Credit stock remained flat at $7.38 during mid-day trading on Monday. 1,294,810 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,104,769. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.18, a current ratio of 2.27 and a quick ratio of 2.27. Eagle Point Credit has a 1-year low of $6.54 and a 1-year high of $10.49. The firm’s 50 day simple moving average is $8.10 and its 200 day simple moving average is $8.80. The stock has a market cap of $567.88 million, a P/E ratio of 8.79 and a beta of 0.35.

Eagle Point Credit (NYSE:ECC) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 20th. The investment management company reported $0.27 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.28 by ($0.01). Eagle Point Credit had a net margin of 44.67% and a return on equity of 12.53%. The company had revenue of $49.55 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $49.76 million. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that Eagle Point Credit will post 1.1 EPS for the current year.

Eagle Point Credit Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, April 30th. Investors of record on Thursday, April 10th will be paid a $0.14 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, April 10th. Eagle Point Credit’s dividend payout ratio is presently 200.00%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, CEO Thomas P. Majewski acquired 1,087 shares of Eagle Point Credit stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, March 21st. The shares were acquired at an average price of $23.00 per share, with a total value of $25,001.00. Following the purchase, the chief executive officer now directly owns 1,087 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $25,001. The trade was a ? increase in their ownership of the stock. The acquisition was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. 0.22% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Trading of Eagle Point Credit

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. AdvisorNet Financial Inc bought a new stake in shares of Eagle Point Credit in the 1st quarter valued at about $25,000. Union Bancaire Privee UBP SA acquired a new position in Eagle Point Credit during the fourth quarter worth approximately $27,000. NBC Securities Inc. bought a new stake in Eagle Point Credit in the first quarter valued at approximately $32,000. Transce3nd LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Eagle Point Credit in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $45,000. Finally, McIlrath & Eck LLC bought a new position in shares of Eagle Point Credit during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $57,000. 19.50% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Separately, B. Riley cut their price objective on Eagle Point Credit from $12.00 to $11.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, January 7th.

About Eagle Point Credit

Eagle Point Credit Company Inc is a closed ended fund launched and managed by Eagle Point Credit Management LLC. It invests in fixed income markets of the United States. The fund invests equity and junior debt tranches of collateralized loan obligations consisting primarily of below investment grade U.S.