Wall Street Zen Downgrades Ellington Credit (NYSE:EARN) to Sell

Ellington Credit (NYSE:EARN) was downgraded by equities researchers at Wall Street Zen from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research note issued to investors on Saturday.

Several other research firms have also recently issued reports on EARN. UBS Group set a $6.00 price objective on shares of Ellington Credit in a research report on Tuesday, December 23rd. Piper Sandler dropped their price target on shares of Ellington Credit from $6.00 to $5.50 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, March 6th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Buy rating and one has assigned a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $5.75.

Ellington Credit Stock Performance

Shares of Ellington Credit stock opened at $4.48 on Friday. The business’s 50 day moving average price is $5.22 and its 200 day moving average price is $5.32. The company has a market cap of $168.08 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of -10.91 and a beta of 1.29. Ellington Credit has a one year low of $4.32 and a one year high of $6.08.

Ellington Credit (NYSE:EARN) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, March 4th. The real estate investment trust reported $0.21 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.24 by ($0.03). Ellington Credit had a negative net margin of 34.31% and a positive return on equity of 16.47%. The company had revenue of $11.12 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $12.71 million. On average, analysts predict that Ellington Credit will post 1.17 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Institutional Trading of Ellington Credit

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Delphi Financial Group Inc. lifted its position in Ellington Credit by 230.8% in the second quarter. Delphi Financial Group Inc. now owns 608,700 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $3,500,000 after buying an additional 424,700 shares during the last quarter. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. raised its stake in shares of Ellington Credit by 14.1% in the 2nd quarter. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. now owns 71,562 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $411,000 after acquiring an additional 8,859 shares during the period. Inspire Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Ellington Credit by 13.7% in the 2nd quarter. Inspire Advisors LLC now owns 19,566 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $113,000 after acquiring an additional 2,363 shares during the last quarter. Jane Street Group LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Ellington Credit by 415.4% in the 1st quarter. Jane Street Group LLC now owns 379,906 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $2,055,000 after acquiring an additional 306,192 shares during the last quarter. Finally, HighTower Advisors LLC purchased a new position in shares of Ellington Credit during the 4th quarter worth approximately $369,000. 20.40% of the stock is currently 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.