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

Ellington Credit Company (NYSE:EARN) shares passed below its 200-day moving average during trading on Wednesday . The stock has a 200-day moving average of $5.03 and traded as low as $4.86. Ellington Credit shares last traded at $4.9330, with a volume of 312,331 shares trading hands.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research firms have commented on EARN. Wall Street Zen raised shares of Ellington Credit from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Saturday, April 4th. Piper Sandler cut their price objective on shares of Ellington Credit from $6.00 to $5.50 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, March 6th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Buy rating and one has assigned a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $5.75.

Ellington Credit Stock Performance

The stock has a market cap of $185.38 million, a PE ratio of -4.74 and a beta of 1.27. The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $4.64 and a 200 day moving average price of $5.03.

Ellington Credit (NYSE:EARN) last announced its earnings results on Tuesday, May 19th. The real estate investment trust reported $0.19 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.22 by ($0.03). Ellington Credit had a positive return on equity of 16.47% and a negative net margin of 90.90%.The business had revenue of ($29.57) million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $10.57 million.

Ellington Credit Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a monthly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, June 30th. Stockholders of record on Friday, May 29th will be paid a dividend of $0.08 per share. The ex-dividend date is Friday, May 29th. This represents a c) dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 19.5%. Ellington Credit’s payout ratio is presently -92.31%.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Ellington Credit

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of EARN. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. boosted its stake in Ellington Credit by 6.5% in the 3rd quarter. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. now owns 76,237 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $415,000 after purchasing an additional 4,675 shares in the last quarter. McIlrath & Eck LLC grew its position in Ellington Credit by 122.4% during the 1st quarter. McIlrath & Eck LLC now owns 10,969 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $49,000 after purchasing an additional 6,038 shares during the last quarter. Virtu Financial LLC acquired a new position in Ellington Credit during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $57,000. Quadrature Capital Ltd purchased a new position in shares of Ellington Credit in the fourth quarter worth $75,000. Finally, Engineers Gate Manager LP purchased a new position in shares of Ellington Credit in the second quarter worth $83,000. 20.40% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.