Chicago Partners Investment Group LLC Sells 7,113 Shares of Ellington Financial Inc. $EFC

Chicago Partners Investment Group LLC trimmed its position in shares of Ellington Financial Inc. (NYSE:EFC) by 24.3% in the second quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 22,205 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 7,113 shares during the period. Chicago Partners Investment Group LLC’s holdings in Ellington Financial were worth $296,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of EFC. Amundi bought a new stake in shares of Ellington Financial in the first quarter valued at about $6,418,000. Nuveen LLC bought a new stake in shares of Ellington Financial in the first quarter valued at about $3,941,000. Delphi Financial Group Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Ellington Financial by 44.3% in the first quarter. Delphi Financial Group Inc. now owns 560,057 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $7,426,000 after buying an additional 171,926 shares during the period. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Ellington Financial by 3.0% in the first quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 5,899,538 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $78,228,000 after buying an additional 171,445 shares during the period. Finally, Prevail Innovative Wealth Advisors LLC lifted its stake in shares of Ellington Financial by 896.5% in the first quarter. Prevail Innovative Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 158,641 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $2,104,000 after buying an additional 142,721 shares during the period. 55.62% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities research analysts recently weighed in on EFC shares. Weiss Ratings reiterated a “hold (c)” rating on shares of Ellington Financial in a research note on Friday. UBS Group increased their target price on shares of Ellington Financial from $12.50 to $13.50 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Wednesday, September 3rd. Piper Sandler reduced their target price on shares of Ellington Financial from $15.00 to $14.50 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, July 1st. Zacks Research cut shares of Ellington Financial from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, October 10th. Finally, Jones Trading upgraded shares of Ellington Financial from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $14.25 price target for the company in a research note on Wednesday, August 13th. Five research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and three have assigned a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $14.46.

Ellington Financial Stock Down 1.1%

Shares of EFC opened at $13.33 on Friday. The stock has a market cap of $1.33 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 10.75 and a beta of 1.00. The company has a quick ratio of 46.78, a current ratio of 46.78 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 10.96. Ellington Financial Inc. has a 12 month low of $11.12 and a 12 month high of $14.40. The company has a 50-day moving average price of $13.49 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $13.08.

Ellington Financial (NYSE:EFC) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, August 7th. The financial services provider reported $0.47 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.40 by $0.07. The company had revenue of $92.54 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $112.48 million. Ellington Financial had a net margin of 89.52% and a return on equity of 13.56%. Equities analysts predict that Ellington Financial Inc. will post 1.38 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Ellington Financial Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a oct 25 dividend, which will be paid on Friday, November 28th. Stockholders of record on Friday, October 31st will be issued a dividend of $0.13 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, October 31st. This represents a dividend yield of 1,161.0%. Ellington Financial’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 125.81%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Ellington Financial

In other news, Director Ronald I. Simon acquired 5,544 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, September 11th. The stock was bought at an average price of $13.56 per share, with a total value of $75,176.64. Following the completion of the acquisition, the director owned 80,000 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,084,800. This represents a 7.45% increase in their position. The acquisition was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Insiders own 4.10% of the company’s stock.

About Ellington Financial

Ellington Financial Inc, through its subsidiary, Ellington Financial Operating Partnership LLC, acquires and manages mortgage-related, consumer-related, corporate-related, and other financial assets in the United States. The company acquires and manages residential mortgage-backed securities (RMBS) backed by prime jumbo, Alt-A, manufactured housing, and subprime mortgage; RMBS for which the principal and interest payments are guaranteed by the U.S.