Ellington Financial Inc. (NYSE:EFC) Given Average Rating of “Buy” by Analysts

Shares of Ellington Financial Inc. (NYSE:EFC) have earned an average recommendation of “Buy” from the five research firms that are presently covering the firm, MarketBeat.com reports. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a hold recommendation, three have issued a buy recommendation and one has assigned a strong buy recommendation to the company. The average twelve-month price target among brokers that have updated their coverage on the stock in the last year is $14.00.

A number of analysts recently issued reports on EFC shares. JMP Securities restated a “market outperform” rating and issued a $14.00 price target on shares of Ellington Financial in a research note on Thursday, January 23rd. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods lifted their price target on Ellington Financial from $13.75 to $14.50 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Monday. Finally, B. Riley raised Ellington Financial to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, January 7th.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Ellington Financial

Hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Maryland State Retirement & Pension System grew its position in shares of Ellington Financial by 3.0% during the fourth quarter. Maryland State Retirement & Pension System now owns 30,531 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $370,000 after acquiring an additional 880 shares during the last quarter. Oregon Public Employees Retirement Fund increased its stake in shares of Ellington Financial by 4.4% in the fourth quarter. Oregon Public Employees Retirement Fund now owns 21,364 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $259,000 after purchasing an additional 900 shares during the period. Steward Partners Investment Advisory LLC raised its holdings in shares of Ellington Financial by 162.3% during the fourth quarter. Steward Partners Investment Advisory LLC now owns 2,602 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $32,000 after buying an additional 1,610 shares during the last quarter. Bank of America Corp DE boosted its position in shares of Ellington Financial by 0.8% during the fourth quarter. Bank of America Corp DE now owns 196,381 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $2,380,000 after buying an additional 1,648 shares during the period. Finally, Portside Wealth Group LLC grew its holdings in Ellington Financial by 13.3% in the 3rd quarter. Portside Wealth Group LLC now owns 14,415 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $186,000 after buying an additional 1,688 shares in the last quarter. 55.62% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Ellington Financial Trading Down 2.5 %

Shares of Ellington Financial stock traded down $0.36 during trading hours on Monday, hitting $14.00. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 1,567,289 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,021,648. The business has a fifty day moving average of $12.60 and a 200 day moving average of $12.63. The company has a market capitalization of $1.27 billion, a PE ratio of 10.68 and a beta of 1.97. Ellington Financial has a 1-year low of $10.88 and a 1-year high of $14.40. The company has a quick ratio of 37.04, a current ratio of 37.04 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 10.87.

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

Ellington Financial Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a monthly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, March 25th. Investors of record on Friday, February 28th will be given a dividend of $0.13 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, February 28th. This represents a $1.56 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 11.15%. Ellington Financial’s dividend payout ratio is currently 113.04%.

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.