Steward Partners Investment Advisory LLC Has $32,000 Stock Position in Ellington Financial Inc. (NYSE:EFC)

Steward Partners Investment Advisory LLC boosted its stake in shares of Ellington Financial Inc. (NYSE:EFC) by 162.3% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 2,602 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after buying an additional 1,610 shares during the period. Steward Partners Investment Advisory LLC’s holdings in Ellington Financial were worth $32,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Other hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Delphi Financial Group Inc. acquired a new stake in Ellington Financial during the 4th quarter worth approximately $4,704,000. Sigma Planning Corp acquired a new stake in Ellington Financial during the 4th quarter worth approximately $664,000. Barclays PLC grew its stake in shares of Ellington Financial by 230.3% during the 3rd quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 138,440 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $1,784,000 after acquiring an additional 96,525 shares in the last quarter. State Street Corp grew its stake in shares of Ellington Financial by 4.1% during the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 3,140,371 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $40,885,000 after acquiring an additional 124,943 shares in the last quarter. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted its position in shares of Ellington Financial by 48.0% in the third quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 231,543 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $2,985,000 after purchasing an additional 75,143 shares in the last quarter. 55.62% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of analysts have recently commented on EFC shares. JMP Securities reissued a “market outperform” rating and issued a $14.00 price objective on shares of Ellington Financial in a research report on Thursday, January 23rd. B. Riley raised shares of Ellington Financial to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, January 7th. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods boosted their price objective on shares of Ellington Financial from $13.75 to $14.50 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Monday, March 3rd. 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 stock. According to MarketBeat, Ellington Financial currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $14.00.

Ellington Financial Price Performance

Shares of EFC opened at $13.44 on Thursday. The company has a market cap of $1.22 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 10.26 and a beta of 1.99. Ellington Financial Inc. has a 1-year low of $10.88 and a 1-year high of $14.40. The company’s fifty day simple moving average is $12.92 and its 200 day simple moving average is $12.66. The company has a current ratio of 37.04, a quick ratio of 37.04 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 10.87.

Ellington Financial (NYSE:EFC) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, February 27th. The financial services provider reported $0.45 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.38 by $0.07. The business had revenue of $38.13 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $112.88 million. Ellington Financial had a net margin of 106.40% and a return on equity of 10.26%. On average, research analysts forecast that Ellington Financial Inc. will post 1.38 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Ellington Financial Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a mar 25 dividend, which will be paid on Friday, April 25th. Shareholders of record on Monday, March 31st will be issued a $0.13 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Monday, March 31st. This represents a dividend yield of 11.7%. Ellington Financial’s dividend payout ratio is currently 113.04%.

Ellington Financial Profile

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.