Wall Street Zen Upgrades Ellington Credit (NYSE:EARN) to "Hold"

Key Points

• Ellington Credit has been upgraded from a "sell" to a "hold" rating by Wall Street Zen.
• UBS Group raised its price target for the stock from $5.50 to $5.75, while the consensus price target currently stands at $6.13.
• The company reported a missed earnings estimate with an EPS of $0.18 for the last quarter, falling short of the $0.20 expected by analysts.

Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of Ellington Credit (NYSE:EARN - Free Report) from a sell rating to a hold rating in a research note issued to investors on Saturday.

Separately, UBS Group boosted their price target on Ellington Credit from $5.50 to $5.75 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 16th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Buy rating and one has assigned a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Ellington Credit presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $6.13.

Ellington Credit Stock Up 0.7%

Shares of Ellington Credit stock traded up $0.04 during trading on Friday, reaching $5.74. The company's stock had a trading volume of 147,564 shares, compared to its average volume of 280,093. The business's 50-day moving average price is $5.77 and its 200-day moving average price is $5.65. The firm has a market cap of $215.59 million, a PE ratio of 31.89 and a beta of 1.31. Ellington Credit has a 52 week low of $4.32 and a 52 week high of $7.11.

Ellington Credit (NYSE:EARN - Get Free Report) last announced its earnings results on Tuesday, August 19th. The real estate investment trust reported $0.18 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts' consensus estimates of $0.20 by ($0.02). The business had revenue of $9.87 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $12.15 million. Ellington Credit had a net margin of 19.24% and a return on equity of 15.90%. Equities analysts predict that Ellington Credit will post 1.17 earnings per share for the current year.

Ellington Credit Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a sep 25 dividend, which will be paid on Friday, October 31st. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, September 30th will be issued a dividend of $0.08 per share. This represents a dividend yield of 1,700.0%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, September 30th. Ellington Credit's payout ratio is 533.33%.

Institutional Trading of Ellington Credit

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Bogart Wealth LLC grew its holdings in shares of Ellington Credit by 62.5% during the second quarter. Bogart Wealth LLC now owns 5,200 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock worth $30,000 after purchasing an additional 2,000 shares during the last quarter. Quarry LP bought a new stake in shares of Ellington Credit during the first quarter worth about $33,000. State of Wyoming bought a new stake in shares of Ellington Credit during the fourth quarter worth about $49,000. Quantbot Technologies LP grew its holdings in shares of Ellington Credit by 211.0% during the first quarter. Quantbot Technologies LP now owns 14,016 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock worth $76,000 after purchasing an additional 9,509 shares during the last quarter. Finally, McIlrath & Eck LLC bought a new stake in shares of Ellington Credit during the fourth quarter worth about $80,000. 20.40% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

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.