Ellington Financial Inc. Announces Monthly Dividend of $0.13 (NYSE:EFC)

Ellington Financial Inc. (NYSE:EFC) announced a monthly dividend on Friday, April 4th, Wall Street Journal reports. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, April 30th will be given a dividend of 0.13 per share by the financial services provider on Tuesday, May 27th. This represents a $1.56 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 12.56%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, April 30th.

Ellington Financial has raised its dividend payment by an average of 2.6% per year over the last three years. Ellington Financial has a payout ratio of 91.8% indicating that its dividend is currently covered by earnings, but may not be in the future if the company’s earnings tumble. Equities analysts expect Ellington Financial to earn $1.67 per share next year, which means the company should continue to be able to cover its $1.56 annual dividend with an expected future payout ratio of 93.4%.

Ellington Financial Stock Down 5.0 %

EFC opened at $12.42 on Friday. The business has a 50 day moving average of $13.12 and a 200-day moving average of $12.67. The stock has a market capitalization of $1.13 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 9.48 and a beta of 1.99. The company has a current ratio of 37.04, a quick ratio of 37.04 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 10.87. Ellington Financial has a 1-year low of $10.88 and a 1-year high of $14.40.

Ellington Financial (NYSE:EFC) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 27th. The financial services provider reported $0.45 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.38 by $0.07. Ellington Financial had a net margin of 106.40% and a return on equity of 10.26%. The firm had revenue of $38.13 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $112.88 million. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that Ellington Financial will post 1.38 earnings per share for the current year.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several brokerages recently issued reports on EFC. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods boosted their price target on Ellington Financial from $13.75 to $14.50 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Monday, March 3rd. B. Riley upgraded Ellington Financial to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, January 7th. Finally, JMP Securities reiterated a “market outperform” rating and set a $14.00 price target on shares of Ellington Financial in a research note on Thursday, January 23rd. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, three have given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $14.00.

Ellington Financial Company Profile

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.