Ellington Credit (NYSE:EARN) Announces Quarterly Earnings Results, Misses Estimates By $0.02 EPS

Key Points

• Ellington Credit reported earnings of $0.18 per share, missing analyst expectations of $0.20 by $0.02.
• The company announced a $0.08 monthly dividend with an annualized yield of 16.7%, despite a significant negative dividend payout ratio of -738.46%.
• Shares of Ellington Credit experienced a downgrade from "hold" to "sell" by Wall Street Zen, while UBS raised its price target from $5.50 to $5.75, assigning a "neutral" rating.

Ellington Credit (NYSE:EARN - Get Free Report) issued its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, August 19th. The real estate investment trust reported $0.18 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts' consensus estimates of $0.20 by ($0.02), Zacks reports. Ellington Credit had a net margin of 19.24% and a return on equity of 15.90%. The business had revenue of $9.87 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $12.15 million.

Ellington Credit Price Performance

Shares of Ellington Credit stock traded up $0.06 during midday trading on Tuesday, hitting $5.86. The company had a trading volume of 124,364 shares, compared to its average volume of 561,600. The business's 50 day simple moving average is $5.79 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $5.74. The stock has a market cap of $219.91 million, a PE ratio of 32.53 and a beta of 1.29. Ellington Credit has a 1-year low of $4.32 and a 1-year high of $7.11.

Ellington Credit Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a monthly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, September 30th. Stockholders of record on Friday, August 29th will be paid a $0.08 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Friday, August 29th. This represents a c) annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 16.4%. Ellington Credit's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 533.33%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities research analysts have weighed in on the stock. Wall Street Zen downgraded shares of Ellington Credit from a "hold" rating to a "sell" rating in a report on Friday. UBS Group increased their price target on shares of Ellington Credit from $5.50 to $5.75 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 16th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Buy rating and one has issued a Hold rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $6.13.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Ellington Credit

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of EARN. Millennium Management LLC grew its stake in shares of Ellington Credit by 485.8% in the first quarter. Millennium Management LLC now owns 932,326 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock worth $5,044,000 after acquiring an additional 773,169 shares during the last quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. grew its stake in shares of Ellington Credit by 56.6% in the first quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. now owns 126,864 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock worth $686,000 after acquiring an additional 45,845 shares during the last quarter. Jane Street Group LLC grew its stake in shares of Ellington Credit by 415.4% in the first quarter. Jane Street Group LLC now owns 379,906 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock worth $2,055,000 after acquiring an additional 306,192 shares during the last quarter. Engineers Gate Manager LP acquired a new stake in shares of Ellington Credit in the second quarter worth $83,000. Finally, Vident Advisory LLC grew its stake in shares of Ellington Credit by 109.1% in the second quarter. Vident Advisory LLC now owns 36,350 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock worth $209,000 after acquiring an additional 18,967 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 20.40% of the company's stock.

About Ellington Credit

Ellington Credit Company, a real estate investment trust, acquires, invests in, and manages residential mortgage-and real estate-related assets. It acquires and manages residential mortgage-backed securities (RMBS), including agency pools and agency collateralized mortgage obligations (CMOs); and non-agency RMBS, such as non-agency CMOs, such as investment grade and non-investment grade.