Ellington Financial Inc. (NYSE:EFC) Receives Consensus Rating of “Moderate Buy” from Analysts

Shares of Ellington Financial Inc. (NYSE:EFC) have earned a consensus recommendation of “Moderate Buy” from the five brokerages that are covering the company, Marketbeat Ratings reports. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a hold recommendation, two have issued a buy recommendation and one has given a strong buy recommendation to the company. The average 12-month price target among brokers that have issued a report on the stock in the last year is $14.0833.

Several research firms have recently weighed in on EFC. Wall Street Zen upgraded Ellington Financial from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Saturday, May 9th. Zacks Research upgraded Ellington Financial from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, May 13th. Finally, Weiss Ratings upgraded Ellington Financial from a “hold (c-)” rating to a “hold (c)” rating in a report on Thursday, May 14th.

Institutional Trading of Ellington Financial

Several institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its holdings in Ellington Financial by 5.3% in the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 7,003,038 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $95,101,000 after acquiring an additional 349,448 shares during the last quarter. State Street Corp boosted its holdings in Ellington Financial by 5.5% in the fourth quarter. State Street Corp now owns 3,779,402 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $51,814,000 after acquiring an additional 196,894 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its holdings in Ellington Financial by 6.3% in the fourth quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 2,412,329 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $32,766,000 after acquiring an additional 142,912 shares during the last quarter. Invesco Ltd. boosted its holdings in Ellington Financial by 17.6% in the third quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 2,218,506 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $28,796,000 after acquiring an additional 331,934 shares during the last quarter. Finally, MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. boosted its holdings in Ellington Financial by 7.0% in the third quarter. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. now owns 1,566,268 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $20,330,000 after acquiring an additional 102,957 shares during the last quarter. 55.62% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Ellington Financial Stock Performance

NYSE:EFC opened at $13.69 on Tuesday. The stock has a market cap of $1.72 billion, a P/E ratio of 8.24 and a beta of 0.94. The company has a current ratio of 42.65, a quick ratio of 42.65 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 10.18. The stock’s 50-day moving average is $13.18 and its 200-day moving average is $13.09. Ellington Financial has a 1-year low of $11.27 and a 1-year high of $14.12.

Ellington Financial (NYSE:EFC) last released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, May 5th. The financial services provider reported $0.55 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.42 by $0.13. The company had revenue of $188.83 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $114.09 million. Ellington Financial had a return on equity of 15.81% and a net margin of 72.08%. Equities research analysts anticipate that Ellington Financial will post 1.95 earnings per share for the current year.

Ellington Financial Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a monthly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, July 31st. Investors of record on Tuesday, June 30th will be issued a $0.13 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, June 30th. This represents a c) annualized dividend and a yield of 11.4%. Ellington Financial’s dividend payout ratio is presently 93.98%.

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.