Ellington Financial Inc. (EFC) to Issue Monthly Dividend of $0.13 on February 25th

Ellington Financial Inc. (NYSE:EFC) declared a monthly dividend on Wednesday, January 8th,Wall Street Journal reports. Shareholders of record on Friday, January 31st will be paid a dividend of 0.13 per share by the financial services provider on Tuesday, February 25th. This represents a $1.56 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 12.84%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, January 31st.

Ellington Financial has raised its dividend payment by an average of 2.6% annually over the last three years. Ellington Financial has a payout ratio of 88.1% indicating that its dividend is currently covered by earnings, but may not be in the future if the company’s earnings tumble. Equities research 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 0.7 %

Ellington Financial stock opened at $12.15 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 10.87, a current ratio of 37.04 and a quick ratio of 37.04. The stock has a market capitalization of $1.10 billion, a PE ratio of 9.27 and a beta of 1.97. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $12.25 and a 200-day simple moving average of $12.59. Ellington Financial has a 12 month low of $10.88 and a 12 month high of $13.46.

Ellington Financial (NYSE:EFC) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, November 6th. The financial services provider reported $0.40 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.36 by $0.04. Ellington Financial had a net margin of 106.40% and a return on equity of 10.26%. The company had revenue of $33.63 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $37.95 million. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $0.33 EPS. On average, analysts anticipate that Ellington Financial will post 1.37 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity at Ellington Financial

In other Ellington Financial news, CIO Michael W. Vranos sold 14,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, October 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $12.48, for a total value of $174,720.00. Following the transaction, the executive now directly owns 168,359 shares in the company, valued at $2,101,120.32. The trade was a 7.68 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. 4.40% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Separately, B. Riley upgraded Ellington Financial to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, three have given a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Ellington Financial currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $13.58.

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.