Eagle Point Credit (NYSE:ECC) Trading Down 4.8% – Time to Sell?

Eagle Point Credit Company Inc. (NYSE:ECC) fell 4.8% on Friday . The company traded as low as $3.88 and last traded at $3.8650. 287,674 shares were traded during mid-day trading, a decline of 88% from the average session volume of 2,318,963 shares. The stock had previously closed at $4.06.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research firms recently weighed in on ECC. B. Riley Financial decreased their price objective on Eagle Point Credit from $7.00 to $4.25 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Monday, March 16th. Zacks Research downgraded shares of Eagle Point Credit from a “hold” rating to a “strong sell” rating in a research report on Tuesday, March 10th. LADENBURG THALM/SH SH downgraded shares of Eagle Point Credit from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating in a research report on Monday, March 2nd. Finally, Credit Suisse Group set a $5.00 target price on shares of Eagle Point Credit in a research report on Wednesday, February 18th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, two have assigned a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $6.67.

Eagle Point Credit Stock Performance

The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $4.10 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $5.36. The stock has a market capitalization of $507.03 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of 20.19 and a beta of 0.30.

Eagle Point Credit Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a monthly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, June 30th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, June 10th will be issued a dividend of $0.06 per share. This represents a c) dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 18.8%. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, June 10th. Eagle Point Credit’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 884.21%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, Portfolio Manager Daniel W. Ko acquired 57,165 shares of Eagle Point Credit stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, March 18th. The stock was bought at an average price of $3.50 per share, with a total value of $200,077.50. Following the transaction, the portfolio manager directly owned 82,665 shares in the company, valued at $289,327.50. This represents a 224.18% increase in their position. The purchase was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Insiders own 0.15% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Eagle Point Credit

Large investors have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Geneos Wealth Management Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Eagle Point Credit during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $33,000. Ameriflex Group Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Eagle Point Credit during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $33,000. N.E.W. Advisory Services LLC grew its position in shares of Eagle Point Credit by 100.0% during the 4th quarter. N.E.W. Advisory Services LLC now owns 5,300 shares of the investment management company’s stock worth $31,000 after buying an additional 2,650 shares during the period. Spire Wealth Management acquired a new stake in shares of Eagle Point Credit during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $37,000. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada grew its stake in shares of Eagle Point Credit by 135.5% in the 4th quarter. Royal Bank of Canada now owns 5,600 shares of the investment management company’s stock valued at $32,000 after buying an additional 3,222 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 19.50% of the company’s stock.

Eagle Point Credit Company Profile

Eagle Point Credit Company is a closed-end, non-diversified management investment company that seeks to generate attractive risk-adjusted returns primarily through investments in collateralized loan obligations (CLOs) and related structured credit instruments. The firm is externally managed by Eagle Point Credit Management, LLC, a specialized credit asset manager focused on the structured credit markets. Eagle Point Credit Company’s shares trade on the New York Stock Exchange under the ticker symbol ECC.

The company’s investment strategy centers on acquiring both equity and debt tranches of actively managed CLOs alongside opportunistic positions in senior secured loans, high-yield bonds and credit derivatives.