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

Key Points

• Eagle Point Credit declared a monthly dividend of $0.06 per share, payable November 30 to shareholders of record as of November 10. The dividend implies an annualized yield of approximately 18.6%.
• The dividend appears financially strained: the company’s payout ratio is 136.2%, while analysts expect next year’s earnings of $0.71 per share versus a projected $1.28 annual dividend, implying a 180.3% payout ratio.
• ECC reported quarterly earnings of $0.17 per share, slightly below the $0.18 consensus estimate. Despite weak profitability metrics, analysts maintain a “Moderate Buy” consensus rating with an average price target of $6.50, above the $3.88 share price cited.

Eagle Point Credit Company Inc. (NYSE:ECC - Get Free Report) declared a monthly dividend on Thursday, August 13th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, November 10th will be given a dividend of 0.06 per share by the investment management company on Monday, November 30th. This represents a c) annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 18.6%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, November 10th.

Eagle Point Credit has increased its dividend by an average of 0.1%per year over the last three years. Eagle Point Credit has a payout ratio of 136.2% indicating that 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 $0.71 per share next year, which means the company may not be able to cover its $1.28 annual dividend with an expected future payout ratio of 180.3%.

Eagle Point Credit Stock Performance

Shares of ECC traded up $0.06 during trading hours on Thursday, reaching $3.88. 1,096,287 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 1,591,860. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.02, a quick ratio of 0.23 and a current ratio of 0.23. The stock's fifty day moving average is $3.79 and its 200 day moving average is $4.05. Eagle Point Credit has a 1-year low of $3.46 and a 1-year high of $7.77. The stock has a market cap of $512.31 million, a P/E ratio of 5.78 and a beta of 0.36.

Eagle Point Credit (NYSE:ECC - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Thursday, August 13th. The investment management company reported $0.17 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts' consensus estimates of $0.18 by ($0.01). Eagle Point Credit had a negative return on equity of 1.09% and a negative net margin of 87.16%. Equities research analysts anticipate that Eagle Point Credit will post 0.71 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

ECC has been the subject of a number of research reports. Alliance Global Partners reiterated a "buy" rating on shares of Eagle Point Credit in a research report on Wednesday, April 15th. Zacks Research upgraded Eagle Point Credit from a "strong sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Friday, May 1st. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and two have issued a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Eagle Point Credit presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $6.50.

About Eagle Point Credit

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.

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