Short Interest in Eagle Point Credit Company Inc. (NYSE:ECC) Expands By 40.9%

Eagle Point Credit Company Inc. (NYSE:ECC) was the target of a significant increase in short interest in March. As of March 15th, there was short interest totalling 1,340,000 shares, an increase of 40.9% from the February 28th total of 950,700 shares. Based on an average daily volume of 1,169,200 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is presently 1.1 days. Approximately 1.7% of the shares of the stock are short sold.

Insider Activity at Eagle Point Credit

In other news, CEO Thomas P. Majewski acquired 1,087 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, March 21st. The shares were acquired at an average cost of $23.00 per share, with a total value of $25,001.00. Following the completion of the purchase, the chief executive officer now directly owns 1,087 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $25,001. The trade was a ∞ increase in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. 0.22% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Institutional Trading of Eagle Point Credit

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Commonwealth Equity Services LLC boosted its position in Eagle Point Credit by 1.6% during the 4th quarter. Commonwealth Equity Services LLC now owns 103,691 shares of the investment management company’s stock worth $921,000 after buying an additional 1,666 shares during the period. Rockefeller Capital Management L.P. lifted its holdings in shares of Eagle Point Credit by 2.8% during the third quarter. Rockefeller Capital Management L.P. now owns 77,375 shares of the investment management company’s stock worth $763,000 after purchasing an additional 2,112 shares during the period. B. Riley Wealth Advisors Inc. grew its stake in shares of Eagle Point Credit by 16.9% in the fourth quarter. B. Riley Wealth Advisors Inc. now owns 17,061 shares of the investment management company’s stock worth $152,000 after purchasing an additional 2,463 shares during the last quarter. Union Bancaire Privee UBP SA acquired a new stake in Eagle Point Credit in the fourth quarter valued at $27,000. Finally, Kestra Private Wealth Services LLC raised its position in Eagle Point Credit by 4.7% during the 4th quarter. Kestra Private Wealth Services LLC now owns 76,425 shares of the investment management company’s stock worth $679,000 after purchasing an additional 3,464 shares during the last quarter. 19.50% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Separately, B. Riley lowered their price target on Eagle Point Credit from $12.00 to $11.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, January 7th.

Eagle Point Credit Price Performance

Shares of ECC traded up $0.10 during mid-day trading on Tuesday, reaching $8.20. The company had a trading volume of 824,471 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,020,694. The company’s 50 day simple moving average is $8.54 and its 200 day simple moving average is $9.07. The company has a market capitalization of $630.59 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of 9.76 and a beta of 0.73. Eagle Point Credit has a 1-year low of $7.36 and a 1-year high of $10.49. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.18, a quick ratio of 2.27 and a current ratio of 2.27.

Eagle Point Credit (NYSE:ECC) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, February 20th. The investment management company reported $0.27 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.28 by ($0.01). Eagle Point Credit had a return on equity of 12.53% and a net margin of 44.67%. The company had revenue of $49.55 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $49.76 million. Analysts expect that Eagle Point Credit will post 1.1 EPS for the current year.

Eagle Point Credit Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, April 30th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, April 10th will be paid a dividend of $0.14 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, April 10th. Eagle Point Credit’s payout ratio is 200.00%.

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.