Ellington Credit (NYSE:EARN) Posts Earnings Results, Misses Expectations By $0.03 EPS

Ellington Credit (NYSE:EARN) posted its earnings results on Wednesday. The real estate investment trust reported $0.21 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.24 by ($0.03), Zacks reports. The firm had revenue of $11.12 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $12.71 million. Ellington Credit had a return on equity of 16.47% and a net margin of 12.41%.

Ellington Credit Price Performance

NYSE:EARN traded up $0.19 during mid-day trading on Thursday, reaching $4.99. The stock had a trading volume of 321,917 shares, compared to its average volume of 490,850. The company has a market capitalization of $187.42 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of 62.38 and a beta of 1.29. Ellington Credit has a 1-year low of $4.32 and a 1-year high of $6.46. The stock’s 50 day simple moving average is $5.31 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $5.37.

Ellington Credit Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a monthly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, March 31st. Investors of record on Friday, February 27th will be paid a $0.08 dividend. This represents a c) dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 19.2%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, February 27th. Ellington Credit’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 1,200.00%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities analysts have commented on the stock. UBS Group set a $6.00 price objective on shares of Ellington Credit in a report on Tuesday, December 23rd. Wall Street Zen raised Ellington Credit from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday, November 11th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Buy rating and one has assigned a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Ellington Credit currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $6.25.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Virtu Financial LLC acquired a new position in Ellington Credit in the fourth quarter worth $57,000. Quadrature Capital Ltd acquired a new stake in shares of Ellington Credit during the fourth quarter worth $75,000. Engineers Gate Manager LP bought a new position in shares of Ellington Credit in the 2nd quarter worth about $83,000. Vident Advisory LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Ellington Credit by 109.1% in the 2nd quarter. Vident Advisory LLC now owns 36,350 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $209,000 after buying an additional 18,967 shares during the period. Finally, HighTower Advisors LLC bought a new stake in shares of Ellington Credit during the 4th quarter valued at about $369,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 20.40% of the company’s stock.

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.