State of New Jersey Common Pension Fund D Sells 74,849 Shares of Ellington Financial Inc. (NYSE:EFC)

State of New Jersey Common Pension Fund D lessened its stake in shares of Ellington Financial Inc. (NYSE:EFC) by 32.4% in the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 156,338 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 74,849 shares during the period. State of New Jersey Common Pension Fund D’s holdings in Ellington Financial were worth $1,889,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Ellington Financial by 35.9% in the 4th quarter. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. now owns 3,757 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $48,000 after purchasing an additional 992 shares in the last quarter. Optimum Investment Advisors increased its holdings in shares of Ellington Financial by 7.8% in the 1st quarter. Optimum Investment Advisors now owns 13,900 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $164,000 after purchasing an additional 1,000 shares in the last quarter. Maryland State Retirement & Pension System increased its holdings in shares of Ellington Financial by 3.6% in the 2nd quarter. Maryland State Retirement & Pension System now owns 29,651 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $358,000 after purchasing an additional 1,043 shares in the last quarter. ProShare Advisors LLC increased its holdings in shares of Ellington Financial by 7.4% in the 1st quarter. ProShare Advisors LLC now owns 15,246 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $180,000 after purchasing an additional 1,057 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Texas Permanent School Fund Corp increased its holdings in shares of Ellington Financial by 2.3% in the 1st quarter. Texas Permanent School Fund Corp now owns 68,987 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $815,000 after purchasing an additional 1,548 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 55.62% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Separately, JMP Securities reduced their target price on Ellington Financial from $14.50 to $14.00 and set a “market outperform” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, July 24th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and four have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $13.85.

Ellington Financial Stock Performance

NYSE:EFC opened at $13.11 on Monday. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $12.99 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $12.22. Ellington Financial Inc. has a 52-week low of $10.88 and a 52-week high of $13.46. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 10.84, a quick ratio of 73.16 and a current ratio of 73.16. The firm has a market capitalization of $1.11 billion, a PE ratio of 20.48 and a beta of 1.98.

Ellington Financial (NYSE:EFC) last released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, August 6th. The financial services provider reported $0.33 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.36 by ($0.03). Ellington Financial had a net margin of 103.55% and a return on equity of 9.76%. The company had revenue of $33.60 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $37.20 million. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $0.38 EPS. Analysts forecast that Ellington Financial Inc. will post 1.37 EPS for the current year.

Ellington Financial Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a monthly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, October 25th. Shareholders of record on Monday, September 30th will be issued a dividend of $0.13 per share. This represents a $1.56 annualized dividend and a yield of 11.90%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, September 30th. Ellington Financial’s dividend payout ratio is presently 243.75%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Ellington Financial

In other news, CIO Michael W. Vranos sold 5,900 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, July 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $12.12, for a total value of $71,508.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive now owns 179,655 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,177,418.60. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. 4.40% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Ellington Financial Company 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.