Eagle Point Credit Company Inc. (NYSE:ECC) Short Interest Up 23.0% in August

Eagle Point Credit Company Inc. (NYSE:ECC) was the recipient of a significant growth in short interest during the month of August. As of August 31st, there was short interest totalling 656,600 shares, a growth of 23.0% from the August 15th total of 533,900 shares. Based on an average daily trading volume, of 1,016,400 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is presently 0.6 days.

Eagle Point Credit Price Performance

ECC stock opened at $9.81 on Tuesday. Eagle Point Credit has a 1 year low of $8.60 and a 1 year high of $10.49. The firm has a market capitalization of $754.49 million, a PE ratio of 5.27 and a beta of 0.76. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.19, a current ratio of 2.98 and a quick ratio of 2.98. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $9.92 and a 200-day simple moving average of $10.05.

Eagle Point Credit (NYSE:ECC) last issued its earnings results on Tuesday, August 6th. The investment management company reported $0.28 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.36 by ($0.08). Eagle Point Credit had a net margin of 76.61% and a return on equity of 12.87%. The company had revenue of $42.28 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $45.67 million. Equities research analysts anticipate that Eagle Point Credit will post 1.28 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Eagle Point Credit Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a monthly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, December 31st. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, December 11th will be issued a $0.14 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, December 11th. This represents a $1.68 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 17.13%. Eagle Point Credit’s dividend payout ratio is currently 90.32%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Separately, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods lowered their price target on shares of Eagle Point Credit from $10.50 to $10.00 and set a “market perform” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, August 7th.

Institutional Trading of Eagle Point Credit

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in ECC. Main Street Financial Solutions LLC raised its holdings in shares of Eagle Point Credit by 95.6% in the 2nd quarter. Main Street Financial Solutions LLC now owns 147,447 shares of the investment management company’s stock valued at $1,482,000 after buying an additional 72,067 shares during the period. Quadrature Capital Ltd purchased a new position in Eagle Point Credit in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $1,192,000. Wedbush Securities Inc. grew its stake in shares of Eagle Point Credit by 26.2% in the second quarter. Wedbush Securities Inc. now owns 438,276 shares of the investment management company’s stock worth $4,405,000 after acquiring an additional 91,058 shares in the last quarter. BI Asset Management Fondsmaeglerselskab A S raised its stake in shares of Eagle Point Credit by 5.3% in the fourth quarter. BI Asset Management Fondsmaeglerselskab A S now owns 96,127 shares of the investment management company’s stock valued at $913,000 after acquiring an additional 4,881 shares in the last quarter. Finally, PFG Investments LLC increased its holdings in Eagle Point Credit by 115.8% during the 2nd quarter. PFG Investments LLC now owns 387,398 shares of the investment management company’s stock worth $3,893,000 after purchasing an additional 207,875 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 19.50% of the company’s stock.

Eagle Point Credit Company 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.