Eagle Point Credit Company Inc. (NYSE:ECC) Given Average Rating of “Moderate Buy” by Analysts

Eagle Point Credit Company Inc. (NYSE:ECC) has been given an average rating of “Moderate Buy” by the six research firms that are covering the company, MarketBeat Ratings reports. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, three have given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating on the company. The average 1 year target price among brokers that have issued ratings on the stock in the last year is $7.4583.

A number of research analysts have commented on the stock. Craig Hallum started coverage on shares of Eagle Point Credit in a research report on Thursday, September 18th. They set a “buy” rating and a $7.75 target price on the stock. B. Riley decreased their price target on shares of Eagle Point Credit from $10.00 to $7.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, November 20th. Industrial Alliance Securities set a $7.75 price objective on shares of Eagle Point Credit in a research report on Thursday, September 18th. Alliance Global Partners assumed coverage on shares of Eagle Point Credit in a research note on Thursday, September 18th. They set a “buy” rating and a $7.75 price objective for the company. Finally, Zacks Research upgraded shares of Eagle Point Credit from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday, December 16th.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Eagle Point Credit

Institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Kestra Advisory Services LLC increased its holdings in shares of Eagle Point Credit by 7.4% during the first quarter. Kestra Advisory Services LLC now owns 127,787 shares of the investment management company’s stock valued at $1,035,000 after acquiring an additional 8,794 shares in the last quarter. Ieq Capital LLC grew its position in Eagle Point Credit by 80.7% during the 1st quarter. Ieq Capital LLC now owns 29,589 shares of the investment management company’s stock worth $240,000 after purchasing an additional 13,210 shares during the last quarter. Cape Investment Advisory Inc. grew its position in Eagle Point Credit by 91.2% during the 1st quarter. Cape Investment Advisory Inc. now owns 3,592 shares of the investment management company’s stock worth $29,000 after purchasing an additional 1,713 shares during the last quarter. Arete Wealth Advisors LLC increased its stake in Eagle Point Credit by 15.9% during the 1st quarter. Arete Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 18,216 shares of the investment management company’s stock valued at $150,000 after purchasing an additional 2,495 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Jane Street Group LLC purchased a new position in shares of Eagle Point Credit in the first quarter worth $134,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 19.50% of the company’s stock.

Eagle Point Credit Trading Up 0.1%

Shares of Eagle Point Credit stock opened at $5.76 on Friday. The stock’s fifty day moving average price is $5.97 and its 200-day moving average price is $6.71. The firm has a market cap of $727.03 million, a P/E ratio of 30.29 and a beta of 0.28. Eagle Point Credit has a 12 month low of $5.40 and a 12 month high of $9.23.

Eagle Point Credit Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a monthly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, March 31st. Investors of record on Wednesday, March 11th will be paid a dividend of $0.14 per share. This represents a c) annualized dividend and a yield of 29.2%. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, March 11th. Eagle Point Credit’s payout ratio is 884.21%.

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.