Short Interest in Ellington Credit Company (NYSE:EARN) Rises By 133.4%

Ellington Credit Company (NYSE:EARN) was the target of a large growth in short interest in February. As of February 27th, there was short interest totaling 1,274,728 shares, a growth of 133.4% from the February 12th total of 546,100 shares. Based on an average daily volume of 695,400 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is currently 1.8 days. Approximately 3.4% of the company’s stock are sold short. Approximately 3.4% of the company’s stock are sold short. Based on an average daily volume of 695,400 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is currently 1.8 days.

Institutional Trading of Ellington Credit

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Millennium Management LLC grew its position in Ellington Credit by 485.8% during the first quarter. Millennium Management LLC now owns 932,326 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $5,044,000 after buying an additional 773,169 shares during the period. Delphi Financial Group Inc. lifted its position in shares of Ellington Credit by 230.8% during the 2nd quarter. Delphi Financial Group Inc. now owns 608,700 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $3,500,000 after acquiring an additional 424,700 shares during the period. Jane Street Group LLC boosted its stake in shares of Ellington Credit by 415.4% during the 1st 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 in the last quarter. HighTower Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Ellington Credit during the 4th quarter worth approximately $369,000. Finally, Goldman Sachs Group Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Ellington Credit by 56.6% in the 1st 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 period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 20.40% of the company’s stock.

Ellington Credit Price Performance

NYSE:EARN opened at $4.67 on Thursday. The firm has a market cap of $175.22 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of -11.38 and a beta of 1.29. The firm’s fifty day moving average price is $5.25 and its 200 day moving average price is $5.33. Ellington Credit has a 1-year low of $4.32 and a 1-year high of $6.16.

Ellington Credit (NYSE:EARN) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, March 4th. The real estate investment trust reported $0.21 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.24 by ($0.03). The business had revenue of $11.12 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $12.71 million. Ellington Credit had a positive return on equity of 16.47% and a negative net margin of 34.31%. As a group, analysts expect that Ellington Credit will post 1.17 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Ellington Credit Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a monthly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, April 30th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, March 31st will be paid a dividend of $0.08 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, March 31st. This represents a c) dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 20.6%. Ellington Credit’s dividend payout ratio is -234.15%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities analysts recently commented on EARN shares. UBS Group set a $6.00 price target on Ellington Credit in a report on Tuesday, December 23rd. Piper Sandler reduced their price objective on shares of Ellington Credit from $6.00 to $5.50 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, March 6th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Buy rating and one has given a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Ellington Credit currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $5.75.

Ellington Credit Company Profile

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.