Short Interest in Ellington Credit (NYSE:EARN) Drops By 13.7%

Ellington Credit (NYSE:EARN) was the target of a large drop in short interest in March. As of March 15th, there was short interest totalling 662,300 shares, a drop of 13.7% from the February 28th total of 767,300 shares. Currently, 2.3% of the company’s stock are short sold. Based on an average trading volume of 668,900 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is presently 1.0 days.

Ellington Credit Stock Performance

EARN traded down $0.07 during midday trading on Wednesday, reaching $5.43. 1,032,457 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 470,784. The company has a market cap of $158.46 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of 4.85 and a beta of 1.96. Ellington Credit has a one year low of $5.33 and a one year high of $7.26. The company’s fifty day moving average price is $6.30 and its 200 day moving average price is $6.57.

Ellington Credit (NYSE:EARN) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, March 12th. The real estate investment trust reported $0.27 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.26 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 $6.14 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $9.65 million. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that Ellington Credit will post 1.17 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Ellington Credit Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a monthly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, April 25th. Investors of record on Monday, March 31st will be issued a dividend of $0.08 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, March 31st. This represents a $0.96 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 17.68%. Ellington Credit’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 320.00%.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of EARN. First Trust Advisors LP raised its stake in shares of Ellington Credit by 2.2% during the 4th quarter. First Trust Advisors LP now owns 90,895 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $602,000 after purchasing an additional 1,959 shares during the period. Thrivent Financial for Lutherans raised its position in 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 worth $554,000 after acquiring an additional 2,895 shares during the period. FMR LLC boosted its stake 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 during the last quarter. Quantbot Technologies LP bought a new position in shares of Ellington Credit during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $30,000. Finally, State of Wyoming purchased a new stake in shares of Ellington Credit during the 4th quarter worth approximately $49,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 20.40% of the company’s stock.

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.