Ellington Credit (NYSE:EARN) Share Price Passes Below 200-Day Moving Average – Should You Sell?

Ellington Credit Company (NYSE:EARN) crossed below its two hundred day moving average during trading on Friday . The stock has a two hundred day moving average of $5.59 and traded as low as $5.01. Ellington Credit shares last traded at $5.01, with a volume of 458,097 shares trading hands.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several analysts have issued reports on EARN shares. UBS Group upped their price target on shares of Ellington Credit from $5.50 to $5.75 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 16th. Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of Ellington Credit from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Saturday, September 13th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Buy rating and one has issued a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, Ellington Credit presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $6.13.

Ellington Credit Stock Down 2.4%

The stock’s fifty day moving average price is $5.62 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $5.59. The company has a market capitalization of $187.99 million, a PE ratio of 27.81 and a beta of 1.33.

Ellington Credit (NYSE:EARN) last released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, August 19th. The real estate investment trust reported $0.18 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.20 by ($0.02). Ellington Credit had a return on equity of 15.90% and a net margin of 19.24%.The company had revenue of $9.87 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $12.15 million. On average, equities research analysts forecast that Ellington Credit Company will post 1.17 EPS for the current year.

Ellington Credit Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a oct 25 dividend, which will be paid on Friday, November 28th. Investors of record on Friday, October 31st will be paid a $0.08 dividend. This represents a yield of 1,859.0%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, October 31st. Ellington Credit’s dividend payout ratio is presently 533.33%.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Ellington Credit

A number of institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Osaic Holdings Inc. raised its stake in Ellington Credit by 60.3% in the second quarter. Osaic Holdings Inc. now owns 104,689 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $602,000 after buying an additional 39,392 shares in the last quarter. Vident Advisory LLC raised its stake in Ellington Credit by 109.1% in the second quarter. Vident Advisory LLC now owns 36,350 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $209,000 after buying an additional 18,967 shares in the last quarter. Engineers Gate Manager LP bought a new position in shares of Ellington Credit during the second quarter valued at approximately $83,000. Delphi Financial Group Inc. increased its stake in shares of Ellington Credit by 230.8% during the second quarter. Delphi Financial Group Inc. now owns 608,700 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $3,500,000 after purchasing an additional 424,700 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Inspire Advisors LLC increased its stake in shares of Ellington Credit by 13.7% during the second quarter. Inspire Advisors LLC now owns 19,566 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $113,000 after purchasing an additional 2,363 shares in the last quarter. 20.40% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Ellington Credit Company Profile

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.