Short Interest in Ellington Credit (NYSE:EARN) Rises By 8.7%

Ellington Credit (NYSE:EARN) saw a large increase in short interest during the month of December. As of December 31st, there was short interest totalling 844,500 shares, an increase of 8.7% from the December 15th total of 776,600 shares. Based on an average daily volume of 451,900 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is currently 1.9 days.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Thrivent Financial for Lutherans grew its stake in shares of Ellington Credit by 3.8% in the third quarter. Thrivent Financial for Lutherans now owns 79,466 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $554,000 after buying an additional 2,895 shares in the last quarter. FMR LLC grew its position in Ellington Credit by 243.2% in the third quarter. FMR LLC now owns 4,839 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $34,000 after acquiring an additional 3,429 shares in the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Ellington Credit during the third quarter valued at approximately $170,000. Quadrature Capital Ltd acquired a new position in shares of Ellington Credit during the third quarter worth $220,000. Finally, Clear Harbor Asset Management LLC lifted its position in shares of Ellington Credit by 16.3% during the fourth quarter. Clear Harbor Asset Management LLC now owns 235,395 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $1,558,000 after purchasing an additional 33,040 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 20.40% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Separately, StockNews.com upgraded Ellington Credit from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Wednesday, November 20th.

Ellington Credit Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE:EARN opened at $6.61 on Friday. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $6.64 and a 200-day simple moving average of $6.80. The stock has a market capitalization of $193.00 million, a P/E ratio of 5.91 and a beta of 1.86. Ellington Credit has a 1 year low of $5.54 and a 1 year high of $7.26.

Ellington Credit (NYSE:EARN) last released its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, November 12th. The real estate investment trust reported $0.28 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.27 by $0.01. Ellington Credit had a net margin of 226.01% and a return on equity of 15.81%. The company had revenue of $4.75 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $7.55 million. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $0.21 earnings per share. Analysts predict that Ellington Credit will post 1.17 earnings per share for the current year.

Ellington Credit Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a monthly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, February 25th. Investors of record on Friday, January 31st will be issued a $0.08 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Friday, January 31st. This represents a $0.96 annualized dividend and a yield of 14.51%. Ellington Credit’s dividend payout ratio is currently 85.71%.

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.