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

Ellington Financial Inc. (NYSE:EFC) has been given a consensus recommendation of “Moderate Buy” by the six research firms that are currently covering the stock, Marketbeat Ratings reports. Two analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and four have assigned a buy rating to the company. The average 1-year target price among analysts that have issued ratings on the stock in the last year is $13.95.

EFC has been the topic of several recent research reports. StockNews.com upgraded Ellington Financial from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Thursday, May 2nd. Jonestrading started coverage on Ellington Financial in a report on Friday, April 19th. They set a “hold” rating on the stock. JMP Securities reiterated a “market outperform” rating and issued a $14.50 price objective on shares of Ellington Financial in a research note on Thursday, April 18th. Finally, BTIG Research dropped their price objective on Ellington Financial from $15.50 to $13.50 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, April 18th.

Ellington Financial Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:EFC opened at $11.87 on Tuesday. The company has a current ratio of 46.79, a quick ratio of 46.79 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 10.99. Ellington Financial has a 1 year low of $10.88 and a 1 year high of $14.21. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $11.94 and a 200 day simple moving average of $11.99. The firm has a market cap of $1.01 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 18.54 and a beta of 1.98.

Ellington Financial (NYSE:EFC) last posted its earnings results on Tuesday, May 7th. The financial services provider reported $0.28 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.35 by ($0.07). Ellington Financial had a net margin of 66.65% and a return on equity of 10.51%. The company had revenue of $31.06 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $26.68 million. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that Ellington Financial will post 1.48 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Ellington Financial Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a monthly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, July 25th. Investors of record on Friday, June 28th will be given a dividend of $0.13 per share. This represents a $1.56 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 13.15%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, June 28th. Ellington Financial’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 243.75%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, CIO Michael W. Vranos sold 8,300 shares of Ellington Financial stock in a transaction dated Monday, June 17th. The stock was sold at an average price of $12.15, for a total transaction of $100,845.00. Following the sale, the executive now directly owns 160,874 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,954,619.10. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. 4.40% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Ellington Financial

A number of institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in EFC. Rhumbline Advisers boosted its holdings in Ellington Financial by 2.6% during the third quarter. Rhumbline Advisers now owns 222,754 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $2,778,000 after purchasing an additional 5,560 shares in the last quarter. Invesco Ltd. boosted its holdings in Ellington Financial by 32.2% during the third quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 1,388,380 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $17,313,000 after purchasing an additional 338,434 shares in the last quarter. Penserra Capital Management LLC boosted its holdings in Ellington Financial by 14.5% during the third quarter. Penserra Capital Management LLC now owns 36,874 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $459,000 after purchasing an additional 4,664 shares in the last quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its holdings in Ellington Financial by 1.3% during the third quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 4,263,422 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $53,165,000 after purchasing an additional 53,357 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Optimum Investment Advisors boosted its holdings in Ellington Financial by 8.4% during the fourth quarter. Optimum Investment Advisors now owns 12,900 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $164,000 after purchasing an additional 1,000 shares in the last quarter. 55.62% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.