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

Eagle Point Credit Company Inc. (NYSE:ECC) announced a monthly dividend on Tuesday, February 17th. Investors of record on Monday, May 11th will be given a dividend of 0.06 per share by the investment management company on Friday, May 29th. This represents a c) dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 17.3%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, May 11th.

Eagle Point Credit has decreased its dividend payment by an average of 0.0%per year over the last three years. Eagle Point Credit has a dividend payout ratio of 178.7% indicating that the company cannot currently cover its dividend with earnings alone and is relying on its balance sheet to cover its dividend payments. Analysts expect Eagle Point Credit to earn $1.10 per share next year, which means the company may not be able to cover its $1.68 annual dividend with an expected future payout ratio of 152.7%.

Eagle Point Credit Price Performance

Eagle Point Credit stock traded down $0.30 during mid-day trading on Tuesday, reaching $4.17. The company had a trading volume of 9,378,287 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,464,948. The stock’s 50-day simple moving average is $5.55 and its 200-day simple moving average is $6.20. Eagle Point Credit has a 1 year low of $3.95 and a 1 year high of $8.86. The company has a market capitalization of $526.80 million, a P/E ratio of 21.95 and a beta of 0.28.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

ECC has been the topic of several research reports. Zacks Research raised Eagle Point Credit from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday, December 16th. Credit Suisse Group set a $7.00 price objective on shares of Eagle Point Credit in a research note on Thursday, November 20th. Finally, B. Riley Financial reduced their target price on Eagle Point Credit from $10.00 to $7.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, November 20th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, three have given a Buy rating and two have issued a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $7.46.

Eagle Point Credit Company Profile

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.