Ellington Financial Inc. (NYSE:EFC) Short Interest Down 25.8% in January

Ellington Financial Inc. (NYSE:EFC) was the target of a significant decline in short interest during the month of January. As of January 15th, there was short interest totaling 3,588,108 shares, a decline of 25.8% from the December 31st total of 4,833,859 shares. Based on an average daily volume of 1,873,403 shares, the short-interest ratio is currently 1.9 days. Approximately 3.4% of the shares of the company are sold short. Approximately 3.4% of the shares of the company are sold short. Based on an average daily volume of 1,873,403 shares, the short-interest ratio is currently 1.9 days.

Institutional Trading of Ellington Financial

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in EFC. Bank of New York Mellon Corp boosted its holdings in Ellington Financial by 6.9% during the second quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 717,560 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $9,321,000 after buying an additional 46,288 shares in the last quarter. Delphi Financial Group Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Ellington Financial by 28.9% during the second quarter. Delphi Financial Group Inc. now owns 721,757 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $9,376,000 after purchasing an additional 161,700 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC grew its holdings in Ellington Financial by 3.7% in the 2nd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 2,187,694 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $28,422,000 after buying an additional 77,047 shares during the period. Yousif Capital Management LLC raised its stake in Ellington Financial by 4.8% during the second quarter. Yousif Capital Management LLC now owns 35,076 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $456,000 after purchasing an additional 1,595 shares during the period. Finally, Moors & Cabot Inc. acquired a new position in Ellington Financial in the second quarter valued at $271,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 55.62% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research analysts recently weighed in on the stock. Weiss Ratings reiterated a “hold (c)” rating on shares of Ellington Financial in a research note on Wednesday, January 21st. Zacks Research cut shares of Ellington Financial from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, October 10th. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and three have issued a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $14.55.

Ellington Financial Price Performance

Shares of NYSE EFC traded down $0.67 during midday trading on Friday, reaching $12.84. The stock had a trading volume of 5,245,196 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,342,676. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 10.64, a quick ratio of 50.60 and a current ratio of 50.60. Ellington Financial has a 12-month low of $11.12 and a 12-month high of $14.40. The stock has a 50-day moving average of $13.71 and a 200-day moving average of $13.53. The company has a market capitalization of $1.49 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 9.58 and a beta of 0.95.

Ellington Financial (NYSE:EFC) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, November 5th. The financial services provider reported $0.53 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.44 by $0.09. Ellington Financial had a net margin of 89.04% and a return on equity of 14.55%. The firm had revenue of $242.08 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $121.99 million. As a group, research analysts anticipate that Ellington Financial will post 1.38 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Ellington Financial Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a monthly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, February 27th. Investors of record on Friday, January 30th will be paid a $0.13 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Friday, January 30th. This represents a c) dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 12.2%. Ellington Financial’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 116.42%.

About Ellington Financial

Ellington Financial, Inc (NYSE: EFC) is a mortgage real estate investment trust (REIT) that focuses on generating attractive risk-adjusted returns through investments in residential and commercial mortgage-related assets. Established in 2013, the company is externally managed by Ellington Financial Management, L.P., a subsidiary of Ellington Management Group, an alternative asset management firm. EFC’s core strategy centers on actively acquiring and managing agency and non-agency residential mortgage-backed securities (MBS), mortgage servicing rights, residential whole loans, and other structured finance instruments, including asset-backed securities and commercial mortgage-backed securities (CMBS).

The company employs leverage and structured financing tools—such as repurchase agreements and secured credit facilities—to enhance portfolio yield while maintaining focus on risk mitigation.