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

Key Points

• Ellington Financial Inc. has received a consensus recommendation of "Moderate Buy" from six research firms, with five analysts issuing buy ratings and one a hold recommendation.
• The company recently declared a monthly dividend of $0.13 per share, which reflects an annualized yield of 11.5% and a payout ratio of 125.81%.
• Ellington Financial's stock price is currently trading at $13.58, with a market cap of $1.28 billion and a PE ratio of 10.94.

Shares of Ellington Financial Inc. (NYSE:EFC - Get Free Report) have been given a consensus recommendation of "Moderate Buy" by the six research firms that are covering the company, MarketBeat Ratings reports. One research analyst has rated the stock with a hold recommendation and five have issued a buy recommendation on the company. The average twelve-month price target among brokerages that have updated their coverage on the stock in the last year is $14.2917.

Several brokerages have weighed in on EFC. Piper Sandler lowered their target price on shares of Ellington Financial from $15.00 to $14.50 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, July 1st. UBS Group raised their price target on shares of Ellington Financial from $12.00 to $12.50 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a report on Thursday, July 10th. Jones Trading raised shares of Ellington Financial from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating and set a $14.25 price target for the company in a report on Wednesday. Finally, B. Riley raised their price target on shares of Ellington Financial from $15.00 to $16.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a report on Thursday, May 15th.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Ellington Financial

Large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its stake in shares of Ellington Financial by 3.0% in the first quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 5,899,538 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $78,228,000 after buying an additional 171,445 shares during the last quarter. Invesco Ltd. increased its stake in Ellington Financial by 17.2% during the fourth quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 2,364,583 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $28,659,000 after purchasing an additional 347,587 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC increased its stake in Ellington Financial by 3.7% during the second quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 2,187,694 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $28,422,000 after purchasing an additional 77,047 shares during the last quarter. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. increased its stake in Ellington Financial by 4.8% during the fourth quarter. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. now owns 1,470,054 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $17,817,000 after purchasing an additional 67,807 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Northern Trust Corp increased its stake in Ellington Financial by 2.1% during the first quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 1,115,881 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $14,797,000 after purchasing an additional 22,979 shares during the last quarter. 55.62% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Ellington Financial Stock Up 1.6%

NYSE EFC traded up $0.22 during mid-day trading on Wednesday, reaching $13.58. The stock had a trading volume of 517,904 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,046,179. Ellington Financial has a 1 year low of $11.12 and a 1 year high of $14.40. The stock has a market cap of $1.28 billion, a PE ratio of 10.94 and a beta of 1.00. The company has a fifty day moving average price of $13.00 and a 200 day moving average price of $12.92. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 10.96, a current ratio of 46.78 and a quick ratio of 42.26.

Ellington Financial (NYSE:EFC - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, August 7th. The financial services provider reported $0.47 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $0.40 by $0.07. The firm had revenue of $92.54 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $112.48 million. Ellington Financial had a net margin of 89.52% and a return on equity of 13.56%. On average, research analysts expect that Ellington Financial will post 1.38 earnings per share for the current year.

Ellington Financial Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a monthly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, September 30th. Shareholders of record on Friday, August 29th will be given a dividend of $0.13 per share. This represents a c) dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 11.5%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, August 29th. Ellington Financial's payout ratio is 125.81%.

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.

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