Ellington Credit Company (NYSE:EARN) Short Interest Update

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

Ellington Credit Trading Down 0.3%

NYSE EARN opened at $4.37 on Friday. Ellington Credit has a 1-year low of $4.27 and a 1-year high of $6.08. The stock has a 50-day moving average of $4.67 and a 200-day moving average of $4.90. The firm has a market cap of $164.04 million, a PE ratio of -4.20 and a beta of 1.27.

Ellington Credit (NYSE:EARN) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, May 20th. The real estate investment trust reported $0.19 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.22 by ($0.03). The company 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. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, June 30th will be issued a $0.08 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, June 30th. This represents a c) annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 22.0%. Ellington Credit’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently -92.31%.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Virtu Financial LLC purchased a new stake in Ellington Credit during the 4th quarter valued at $57,000. McIlrath & Eck LLC raised its stake in shares of Ellington Credit by 122.4% during the first quarter. McIlrath & Eck LLC now owns 10,969 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $49,000 after acquiring an additional 6,038 shares during the last quarter. Quadrature Capital Ltd bought a new position in shares of Ellington Credit during the fourth quarter valued at about $75,000. Engineers Gate Manager LP purchased a new stake in shares of Ellington Credit during the second quarter worth about $83,000. Finally, World Investment Advisors purchased a new stake in shares of Ellington Credit during the fourth quarter worth about $115,000. 20.40% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

EARN has been the subject of several research reports. Piper Sandler cut their target price on 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 raised shares of Ellington Credit from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Saturday, April 4th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Buy rating and one has given a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $5.75.

About Ellington Credit

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.