Ellington Financial Inc. (NYSE:EFC) Receives $13.58 Average Price Target from Analysts

Ellington Financial Inc. (NYSE:EFC) has been given a consensus recommendation of “Buy” by the five brokerages that are covering the firm, Marketbeat reports. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a hold recommendation, three have assigned a buy recommendation and one has issued a strong buy recommendation on the company. The average 1-year price objective among brokerages that have covered the stock in the last year is $13.58.

Separately, B. Riley raised shares of Ellington Financial to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, January 7th.

Ellington Financial Trading Down 0.3 %

Shares of NYSE EFC opened at $12.10 on Friday. Ellington Financial has a twelve month low of $10.88 and a twelve month high of $13.46. The company has a quick ratio of 37.04, a current ratio of 37.04 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 10.87. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $12.25 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $12.59. The firm has a market cap of $1.10 billion, a PE ratio of 9.24 and a beta of 1.97.

Ellington Financial (NYSE:EFC) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, November 6th. The financial services provider reported $0.40 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.36 by $0.04. Ellington Financial had a return on equity of 10.26% and a net margin of 106.40%. The firm had revenue of $33.63 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $37.95 million. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $0.33 earnings per share. Analysts expect that Ellington Financial will post 1.37 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 Tuesday, February 25th. Shareholders of record on Friday, January 31st will be issued a $0.13 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Friday, January 31st. This represents a $1.56 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 12.89%. Ellington Financial’s dividend payout ratio is presently 119.08%.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Ellington Financial

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Barclays PLC increased its position in shares of Ellington Financial by 230.3% during the third quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 138,440 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $1,784,000 after purchasing an additional 96,525 shares in the last quarter. State Street Corp boosted its position in shares of Ellington Financial by 4.1% in the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 3,140,371 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $40,885,000 after purchasing an additional 124,943 shares in the last quarter. Harbor Capital Advisors Inc. increased its position in Ellington Financial by 146.5% during the 3rd quarter. Harbor Capital Advisors Inc. now owns 726,779 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $9,368,000 after buying an additional 431,945 shares in the last quarter. Intech Investment Management LLC acquired a new position in Ellington Financial during the 3rd quarter valued at about $695,000. Finally, Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. increased its position in Ellington Financial by 5.7% during the 3rd quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 778,931 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $10,040,000 after buying an additional 41,669 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 55.62% of the company’s stock.

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.