Ellington Credit Company (NYSE:EARN) Short Interest Update

Ellington Credit Company (NYSE:EARN) was the target of a large decrease in short interest in June. As of June 15th, there was short interest totaling 763,352 shares, a decrease of 43.8% from the May 31st total of 1,359,107 shares. Approximately 2.1% of the company’s shares are short sold. Based on an average trading volume of 310,444 shares, the short-interest ratio is presently 2.5 days.

Ellington Credit Trading Down 1.0%

Shares of EARN traded down $0.04 during trading hours on Wednesday, hitting $4.38. The company had a trading volume of 551,589 shares, compared to its average volume of 346,054. The company has a market capitalization of $164.41 million, a PE ratio of -4.21 and a beta of 1.27. Ellington Credit has a one year low of $4.27 and a one year high of $6.08. The company’s fifty day moving average price is $4.67 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $4.90.

Ellington Credit (NYSE:EARN) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, May 20th. The real estate investment trust reported $0.19 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.22 by ($0.03). The business had revenue of $9.87 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $10.57 million.

Ellington Credit Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a monthly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, July 31st. Investors of record on Tuesday, June 30th will be given a $0.08 dividend. This represents a c) annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 21.9%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, June 30th. Ellington Credit’s dividend payout ratio is presently -92.31%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several analysts have recently weighed in on EARN shares. Piper Sandler decreased their price target on shares of Ellington Credit from $6.00 to $5.50 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, March 6th. Wall Street Zen upgraded Ellington Credit from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Saturday, April 4th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Buy rating and one has issued a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $5.75.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Millennium Management LLC lifted its position in shares of Ellington Credit by 485.8% during the 1st quarter. Millennium Management LLC now owns 932,326 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $5,044,000 after buying an additional 773,169 shares in the last quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. increased its stake in shares of Ellington Credit by 56.6% during the first quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. now owns 126,864 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $686,000 after purchasing an additional 45,845 shares in the last quarter. Jane Street Group LLC raised its position in shares of Ellington Credit by 415.4% during the 1st 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 during the last quarter. Engineers Gate Manager LP purchased a new position in Ellington Credit in the 2nd quarter valued at about $83,000. Finally, Vident Advisory LLC lifted its stake in Ellington Credit by 109.1% in the 2nd quarter. Vident Advisory LLC now owns 36,350 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $209,000 after buying an additional 18,967 shares in the last quarter. 20.40% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.