Eagle Point Credit Company Inc. to Issue Monthly Dividend of $0.06 (NYSE:ECC)

Eagle Point Credit Company Inc. (NYSE:ECC) announced a monthly dividend on Tuesday, February 17th. Investors of record on Friday, April 10th will be given a dividend of 0.06 per share by the investment management company on Thursday, April 30th. This represents a c) annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 17.3%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, April 10th.

Eagle Point Credit has decreased its dividend by an average of 0.0%annually over the last three years. Eagle Point Credit has a payout ratio of 178.7% meaning the company cannot currently cover its dividend with earnings alone and is relying on its balance sheet to cover its dividend payments. Equities analysts expect Eagle Point Credit to earn $1.10 per share next year, which means the company may not be able to cover its $1.68 annual dividend with an expected future payout ratio of 152.7%.

Eagle Point Credit Trading Down 6.7%

Eagle Point Credit stock traded down $0.30 during mid-day trading on Tuesday, hitting $4.17. 9,378,287 shares of the company’s stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 2,464,948. Eagle Point Credit has a 1-year low of $3.95 and a 1-year high of $8.86. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $5.55 and a two-hundred day moving average of $6.20. The stock has a market cap of $526.80 million, a P/E ratio of 21.95 and a beta of 0.28.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

ECC has been the subject of several analyst reports. B. Riley Financial decreased their target price on Eagle Point Credit from $10.00 to $7.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, November 20th. Credit Suisse Group set a $7.00 price objective on shares of Eagle Point Credit in a report on Thursday, November 20th. Finally, Zacks Research upgraded shares of Eagle Point Credit from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday, December 16th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, three have assigned a Buy rating and two have given a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $7.46.

Eagle Point Credit Company Profile

Eagle Point Credit Company is a closed-end, non-diversified management investment company that seeks to generate attractive risk-adjusted returns primarily through investments in collateralized loan obligations (CLOs) and related structured credit instruments. The firm is externally managed by Eagle Point Credit Management, LLC, a specialized credit asset manager focused on the structured credit markets. Eagle Point Credit Company’s shares trade on the New York Stock Exchange under the ticker symbol ECC.

The company’s investment strategy centers on acquiring both equity and debt tranches of actively managed CLOs alongside opportunistic positions in senior secured loans, high-yield bonds and credit derivatives.