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

Eagle Point Credit Company Inc. (NYSE:ECC) announced a monthly dividend on Tuesday, May 12th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, August 11th will be given a dividend of 0.06 per share by the investment management company on Monday, August 31st. This represents a c) annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 17.7%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, August 11th.

Eagle Point Credit has increased its dividend payment by an average of 0.1%per year over the last three years. Eagle Point Credit has a payout ratio of 176.6% indicating that the company cannot currently cover its dividend with earnings alone and is relying on its balance sheet to cover its dividend payments. Research analysts expect Eagle Point Credit to earn $0.86 per share next year, which means the company may not be able to cover its $1.66 annual dividend with an expected future payout ratio of 193.0%.

Eagle Point Credit Trading Down 0.1%

Shares of Eagle Point Credit stock traded down $0.01 on Wednesday, hitting $4.08. 573,704 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 2,024,591. The firm’s 50-day simple moving average is $3.93 and its 200 day simple moving average is $5.01. The company has a market cap of $538.76 million, a P/E ratio of 21.45 and a beta of 0.35. Eagle Point Credit has a 12-month low of $3.46 and a 12-month high of $7.99.

Insider Activity

In other news, Portfolio Manager Daniel W. Ko acquired 57,165 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, March 18th. The shares were purchased at an average price of $3.50 per share, for a total transaction of $200,077.50. Following the completion of the transaction, the portfolio manager owned 82,665 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $289,327.50. The trade was a 224.18% increase in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Insiders own 0.26% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Eagle Point Credit

A number of hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the company. International Assets Investment Management LLC increased its position in shares of Eagle Point Credit by 201.8% in the fourth quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 1,278,195 shares of the investment management company’s stock valued at $7,362,000 after acquiring an additional 854,625 shares during the period. PFG Investments LLC increased its position in shares of Eagle Point Credit by 2.8% in the fourth quarter. PFG Investments LLC now owns 839,463 shares of the investment management company’s stock valued at $4,835,000 after acquiring an additional 22,499 shares during the period. North Ground Capital purchased a new position in shares of Eagle Point Credit in the third quarter valued at about $4,186,000. Legacy Wealth Managment LLC ID increased its position in shares of Eagle Point Credit by 2.2% in the first quarter. Legacy Wealth Managment LLC ID now owns 575,559 shares of the investment management company’s stock valued at $2,164,000 after acquiring an additional 12,253 shares during the period. Finally, Freestone Capital Holdings LLC increased its position in shares of Eagle Point Credit by 58.7% in the fourth quarter. Freestone Capital Holdings LLC now owns 528,356 shares of the investment management company’s stock valued at $3,043,000 after acquiring an additional 195,503 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 19.50% of the company’s stock.

About Eagle Point Credit

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.