Eagle Point Credit (NYSE:ECC) Upgraded at LADENBURG THALM/SH SH

LADENBURG THALM/SH SH upgraded shares of Eagle Point Credit (NYSE:ECC) to a strong-buy rating in a research note released on Wednesday morning,Zacks.com reports.

A number of other equities research analysts also recently weighed in on the stock. Credit Suisse Group set a $7.50 price target on shares of Eagle Point Credit in a research note on Thursday, May 29th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods decreased their price objective on Eagle Point Credit from $9.00 to $7.50 and set a “market perform” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, May 29th.

Eagle Point Credit Price Performance

Shares of ECC stock opened at $6.70 on Wednesday. Eagle Point Credit has a 12 month low of $6.00 and a 12 month high of $10.06. The company has a market capitalization of $515.57 million, a P/E ratio of 60.91 and a beta of 0.38. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $7.30 and a two-hundred day moving average of $7.80. The company has a current ratio of 2.23, a quick ratio of 2.23 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.32.

Eagle Point Credit (NYSE:ECC) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, May 28th. The investment management company reported $0.28 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.26 by $0.02. Eagle Point Credit had a return on equity of 13.49% and a net margin of 6.73%. The business had revenue of $52.30 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $53.54 million. As a group, equities analysts expect that Eagle Point Credit will post 1.1 EPS for the current year.

Eagle Point Credit Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a monthly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, December 31st. Stockholders of record on Thursday, December 11th will be issued a $0.14 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, December 11th. This represents a c) annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 25.1%. Eagle Point Credit’s dividend payout ratio is presently -420.00%.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Eagle Point Credit

Several large investors have recently made changes to their positions in ECC. International Assets Investment Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of Eagle Point Credit in the 2nd quarter worth about $2,306,000. Raymond James Financial Inc. acquired a new position in Eagle Point Credit during the 4th quarter worth about $2,038,000. Wedbush Securities Inc. lifted 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 worth $6,037,000 after buying an additional 177,661 shares in the last quarter. Jane Street Group LLC lifted its position in Eagle Point Credit by 869.6% during the 2nd quarter. Jane Street Group LLC now owns 160,677 shares of the investment management company’s stock worth $1,231,000 after buying an additional 144,105 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Freestone Capital Holdings LLC lifted its position in Eagle Point Credit by 57.9% during the 1st quarter. Freestone Capital Holdings LLC now owns 350,614 shares of the investment management company’s stock worth $2,840,000 after buying an additional 128,531 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 19.50% of the company’s stock.

About Eagle Point Credit

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.