Eagle Point Credit (NYSE:ECC) Stock Crosses Above 50-Day Moving Average – Here’s Why

Eagle Point Credit Company Inc. (NYSE:ECC) shares passed above its fifty day moving average during trading on Tuesday . The stock has a fifty day moving average of $3.99 and traded as high as $4.15. Eagle Point Credit shares last traded at $4.1350, with a volume of 644,721 shares trading hands.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities research analysts have weighed in on ECC shares. B. Riley Financial lowered their price objective on shares of Eagle Point Credit from $7.00 to $4.25 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, March 16th. Credit Suisse Group set a $5.00 price objective on shares of Eagle Point Credit in a research report on Wednesday, February 18th. Zacks Research upgraded shares of Eagle Point Credit from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, May 1st. Alliance Global Partners restated a “buy” rating on shares of Eagle Point Credit in a research report on Wednesday, April 15th. Finally, LADENBURG THALM/SH SH cut shares of Eagle Point Credit from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating in a research report on Monday, March 2nd. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and two have given a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, Eagle Point Credit presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $6.50.

Eagle Point Credit Stock Down 0.1%

The company has a market cap of $546.69 million, a P/E ratio of 4.35 and a beta of 0.35. The company has a current ratio of 0.23, a quick ratio of 0.23 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.02. The firm’s 50 day moving average price is $3.99 and its 200-day moving average price is $4.80.

Eagle Point Credit (NYSE:ECC) last issued its earnings results on Tuesday, May 19th. The investment management company reported $0.20 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.23 by ($0.03). The business had revenue of $42.40 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $48.79 million. Eagle Point Credit had a net margin of 12.33% and a return on equity of 13.47%. As a group, equities research analysts expect that Eagle Point Credit Company Inc. will post 0.71 EPS for the current year.

Eagle Point Credit Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a monthly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, September 30th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, September 10th will be paid a $0.06 dividend. This represents a c) annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 17.4%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, September 10th. Eagle Point Credit’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 160.00%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, Portfolio Manager Daniel W. Ko acquired 57,165 shares of Eagle Point Credit stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, March 18th. The shares were acquired at an average price of $3.50 per share, with a total value of $200,077.50. Following the purchase, the portfolio manager directly owned 82,665 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $289,327.50. The trade was a 224.18% increase in their ownership of the stock. The acquisition was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. 0.26% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the company. International Assets Investment Management LLC boosted its stake in Eagle Point Credit by 201.8% during the 4th quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 1,278,195 shares of the investment management company’s stock worth $7,362,000 after acquiring an additional 854,625 shares during the last quarter. Alpine Global Management LLC bought a new position in Eagle Point Credit during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $2,203,000. Freestone Capital Holdings LLC boosted its stake in Eagle Point Credit by 58.7% during the 4th quarter. Freestone Capital Holdings LLC now owns 528,356 shares of the investment management company’s stock worth $3,043,000 after acquiring an additional 195,503 shares during the last quarter. Castleview Partners LLC bought a new position in Eagle Point Credit during the 4th quarter worth approximately $209,000. Finally, Sage Capital Advisors llc boosted its stake in Eagle Point Credit by 12.4% during the 4th quarter. Sage Capital Advisors llc now owns 41,170 shares of the investment management company’s stock worth $237,000 after acquiring an additional 4,544 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors 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.