Eagle Point Credit Company Inc. (NYSE:ECC) Receives Average Recommendation of “Moderate Buy” from Brokerages

Shares of Eagle Point Credit Company Inc. (NYSE:ECC) have been given a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” by the six ratings firms that are presently covering the stock, Marketbeat reports. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have given a buy rating to the company. The average 1 year target price among brokerages that have updated their coverage on the stock in the last year is $6.6667.

Several equities analysts recently weighed in on the stock. Zacks Research raised shares of Eagle Point Credit from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, May 1st. Alliance Global Partners reaffirmed a “buy” rating on shares of Eagle Point Credit in a research note on Wednesday, April 15th. LADENBURG THALM/SH SH cut shares of Eagle Point Credit from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating in a research note on Monday, March 2nd. Credit Suisse Group set a $5.00 price objective on shares of Eagle Point Credit in a research note on Wednesday, February 18th. Finally, B. Riley Financial dropped 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 note on Monday, March 16th.

Eagle Point Credit Stock Performance

ECC opened at $4.24 on Friday. The stock has a market capitalization of $559.91 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of 22.29 and a beta of 0.35. The company has a fifty day moving average of $3.90 and a 200 day moving average of $5.07. Eagle Point Credit has a fifty-two week low of $3.46 and a fifty-two week high of $8.23.

Eagle Point Credit Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a monthly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, June 30th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, June 10th will be paid a $0.06 dividend. This represents a c) dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 17.0%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, June 10th. Eagle Point Credit’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 842.11%.

Insider Activity at Eagle Point Credit

In other Eagle Point Credit news, Portfolio Manager Daniel W. Ko acquired 57,165 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, March 18th. The stock was acquired at an average cost 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 approximately $289,327.50. This represents a 224.18% increase in their position. The purchase was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. 0.26% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Eagle Point Credit

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in ECC. Jane Street Group LLC purchased a new position in shares of Eagle Point Credit in the 1st quarter worth $134,000. Creative Planning purchased a new position in shares of Eagle Point Credit in the 2nd quarter worth $96,000. NewEdge Advisors LLC grew its stake in shares of Eagle Point Credit by 647.5% in the 2nd quarter. NewEdge Advisors LLC now owns 22,260 shares of the investment management company’s stock worth $171,000 after buying an additional 19,282 shares in the last quarter. Vident Advisory LLC bought a new stake in shares of Eagle Point Credit in the 2nd quarter worth about $206,000. Finally, Corient Private Wealth LLC bought a new stake in shares of Eagle Point Credit in the 2nd quarter worth about $128,000. 19.50% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

About Eagle Point Credit

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.