Cetera Investment Advisers Acquires 42,637 Shares of Eagle Point Credit Company Inc. (NYSE:ECC)

Cetera Investment Advisers raised its position in shares of Eagle Point Credit Company Inc. (NYSE:ECC) by 151.7% in the first quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The firm owned 70,746 shares of the investment management company’s stock after purchasing an additional 42,637 shares during the quarter. Cetera Investment Advisers owned approximately 0.09% of Eagle Point Credit worth $573,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Wedbush Securities Inc. increased its position in Eagle Point Credit by 31.3% during the 1st quarter. Wedbush Securities Inc. now owns 745,271 shares of the investment management company’s stock valued at $6,037,000 after purchasing an additional 177,661 shares during the period. PFG Investments LLC increased its position in Eagle Point Credit by 10.7% during the 1st quarter. PFG Investments LLC now owns 685,957 shares of the investment management company’s stock valued at $5,556,000 after purchasing an additional 66,558 shares during the period. Money Concepts Capital Corp increased its position in Eagle Point Credit by 61.3% during the 1st quarter. Money Concepts Capital Corp now owns 308,196 shares of the investment management company’s stock valued at $2,496,000 after purchasing an additional 117,157 shares during the period. J.W. Cole Advisors Inc. increased its position in Eagle Point Credit by 75.6% during the 1st quarter. J.W. Cole Advisors Inc. now owns 266,515 shares of the investment management company’s stock valued at $2,159,000 after purchasing an additional 114,706 shares during the period. Finally, Envestnet Asset Management Inc. increased its position in Eagle Point Credit by 48.5% during the 4th quarter. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. now owns 246,876 shares of the investment management company’s stock valued at $2,192,000 after purchasing an additional 80,616 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 19.50% of the company’s stock.

Eagle Point Credit Stock Performance

Shares of ECC stock opened at $6.70 on Friday. The company has a market cap of $515.55 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of 60.91 and a beta of 0.38. Eagle Point Credit Company Inc. has a 52 week low of $6.00 and a 52 week high of $10.06. The company has a quick ratio of 2.23, a current ratio of 2.23 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.32. The firm has a 50 day moving average of $7.30 and a 200-day moving average of $7.80.

Eagle Point Credit (NYSE:ECC) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, May 28th. The investment management company reported $0.28 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.26 by $0.02. Eagle Point Credit had a net margin of 6.73% and a return on equity of 13.49%. The business had revenue of $52.30 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $53.54 million. On average, equities analysts forecast that Eagle Point Credit Company Inc. will post 1.1 earnings per share for the current year.

Eagle Point Credit Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a monthly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, December 31st. Investors of record on Thursday, December 11th will be given a $0.14 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, December 11th. This represents a c) annualized dividend and a yield of 25.1%. Eagle Point Credit’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 1,527.27%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of analysts have weighed in on ECC shares. Credit Suisse Group set a $7.50 target price on shares of Eagle Point Credit in a research report on Thursday, May 29th. LADENBURG THALM/SH SH raised shares of Eagle Point Credit to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods reduced their price objective on shares of Eagle Point Credit from $9.00 to $7.50 and set a “market perform” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, May 29th.

Eagle Point Credit Profile

Eagle Point Credit Company Inc is a closed ended fund launched and managed by Eagle Point Credit Management LLC. It invests in fixed income markets of the United States. The fund invests equity and junior debt tranches of collateralized loan obligations consisting primarily of below investment grade U.S.