State of New Jersey Common Pension Fund D Sells 5,953 Shares of Ellington Financial Inc. (NYSE:EFC)

State of New Jersey Common Pension Fund D reduced its stake in Ellington Financial Inc. (NYSE:EFC) by 3.8% in the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 150,385 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 5,953 shares during the period. State of New Jersey Common Pension Fund D owned approximately 0.17% of Ellington Financial worth $1,938,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Several other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the stock. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its stake in Ellington Financial by 1.0% during the first quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 4,879,336 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $57,625,000 after purchasing an additional 45,979 shares during the last quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp grew its holdings in Ellington Financial by 32.3% during the 2nd quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp now owns 751,997 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $9,084,000 after acquiring an additional 183,544 shares during the period. Harbor Capital Advisors Inc. grew its holdings 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 worth $9,368,000 after acquiring an additional 431,945 shares during the period. Bank of New York Mellon Corp grew its holdings in Ellington Financial by 4.4% during the 2nd quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 654,024 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $7,901,000 after acquiring an additional 27,392 shares during the period. Finally, Principal Financial Group Inc. boosted its position in shares of Ellington Financial by 2.0% during the 2nd quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 419,249 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $5,065,000 after purchasing an additional 8,088 shares in the last quarter. 55.62% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Ellington Financial news, CIO Michael W. Vranos sold 14,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Monday, October 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $12.48, for a total value of $174,720.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive now directly owns 168,359 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,101,120.32. The trade was a 7.68 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. 4.40% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Separately, JMP Securities dropped their price target on shares of Ellington Financial from $14.50 to $14.00 and set a “market outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, July 24th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have given a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, Ellington Financial presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $13.56.

Ellington Financial Stock Up 0.2 %

Ellington Financial stock opened at $12.20 on Monday. Ellington Financial Inc. has a 1-year low of $10.88 and a 1-year high of $13.46. The firm has a market capitalization of $1.11 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 9.31 and a beta of 1.99. The company has a current ratio of 37.04, a quick ratio of 73.16 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 10.87. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $12.65 and a 200 day simple moving average of $12.52.

Ellington Financial (NYSE:EFC) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, November 6th. The financial services provider reported $0.40 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.36 by $0.04. Ellington Financial had a net margin of 106.40% and a return on equity of 10.26%. The firm had revenue of $33.63 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $37.95 million. During the same period last year, the firm earned $0.33 EPS. On average, analysts predict that Ellington Financial Inc. will post 1.37 earnings per share for the current year.

Ellington Financial Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a monthly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, December 26th. Stockholders of record on Friday, November 29th will be issued a dividend of $0.13 per share. This represents a $1.56 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 12.79%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, November 29th. Ellington Financial’s dividend payout ratio is currently 119.08%.

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.