Ellington Credit (NYSE:EARN) Shares Acquired by Northern Trust Corp

Northern Trust Corp grew its stake in Ellington Credit (NYSE:EARN) by 81.1% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 109,569 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock after buying an additional 49,062 shares during the quarter. Northern Trust Corp’s holdings in Ellington Credit were worth $725,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the stock. Quantbot Technologies LP purchased a new position in shares of Ellington Credit in the 4th quarter valued at about $30,000. Naviter Wealth LLC purchased a new position in shares of Ellington Credit in the 4th quarter valued at about $72,000. Inspire Advisors LLC purchased a new position in shares of Ellington Credit in the 4th quarter valued at about $98,000. Plancorp LLC purchased a new position in shares of Ellington Credit in the 4th quarter valued at about $100,000. Finally, Tower Research Capital LLC TRC increased its stake in shares of Ellington Credit by 835.8% in the 4th quarter. Tower Research Capital LLC TRC now owns 16,236 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $107,000 after purchasing an additional 14,501 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 20.40% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity

In related news, Portfolio Manager Gregory Morris Borenstein purchased 8,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, April 9th. The stock was acquired at an average cost of $4.73 per share, for a total transaction of $37,840.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the portfolio manager now directly owns 18,000 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $85,140. This trade represents a 80.00% increase in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Company insiders own 1.60% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities analysts recently weighed in on EARN shares. Wall Street Zen lowered Ellington Credit from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research note on Friday, May 16th. Piper Sandler cut their price target on Ellington Credit from $8.00 to $6.50 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, April 8th. Finally, UBS Group cut their price target on Ellington Credit from $6.50 to $5.25 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, April 17th.

Ellington Credit Trading Down 2.1%

NYSE:EARN opened at $5.61 on Friday. Ellington Credit has a 12 month low of $4.33 and a 12 month high of $7.20. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $5.36 and a two-hundred day moving average of $6.11. The firm has a market cap of $210.78 million, a P/E ratio of 5.01 and a beta of 1.31.

Ellington Credit (NYSE:EARN) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, May 20th. The real estate investment trust reported $0.26 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.27 by ($0.01). Ellington Credit had a return on equity of 15.81% and a net margin of 226.01%. The firm had revenue of $9.25 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $10.35 million. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $0.27 earnings per share. On average, research analysts forecast that Ellington Credit will post 1.17 earnings per share for the current year.

Ellington Credit Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a monthly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, June 30th. Stockholders of record on Friday, May 30th will be given a $0.08 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, May 30th. This represents a $0.96 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 17.11%. Ellington Credit’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently -738.46%.

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.