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

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

Institutional Trading of Ellington Credit

Several hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Clear Harbor Asset Management LLC raised its position in Ellington Credit by 16.3% in 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 acquiring an additional 33,040 shares during the period. Barclays PLC bought a new stake in Ellington Credit in the third quarter worth about $334,000. Geode Capital Management LLC raised its position in Ellington Credit by 21.6% in the third quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 269,850 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $1,885,000 after acquiring an additional 47,998 shares during the period. Quadrature Capital Ltd bought a new stake in Ellington Credit in the third quarter worth about $220,000. Finally, FMR LLC raised 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 worth $34,000 after acquiring an additional 3,429 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 20.40% of the company’s stock.

Ellington Credit Trading Up 0.4 %

Shares of EARN traded up $0.02 during trading hours on Monday, reaching $6.61. 460,018 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 467,128. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $6.64 and a 200 day simple moving average of $6.80. Ellington Credit has a 52 week low of $5.54 and a 52 week high of $7.26. The company has a market cap of $193.00 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of 5.91 and a beta of 1.86.

Ellington Credit (NYSE:EARN) last released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, November 12th. The real estate investment trust reported $0.28 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates 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 for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $7.55 million. During the same period last year, the firm earned $0.21 earnings per share. Analysts predict that Ellington Credit will post 1.17 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Ellington Credit Announces Dividend

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

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

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

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.