Connor Clark & Lunn Investment Management Ltd. Acquires Shares of 66,519 Ellington Financial Inc. $EFC

Connor Clark & Lunn Investment Management Ltd. purchased a new stake in Ellington Financial Inc. (NYSE:EFC - Free Report) in the first quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm purchased 66,519 shares of the financial services provider's stock, valued at approximately $882,000. Connor Clark & Lunn Investment Management Ltd. owned approximately 0.07% of Ellington Financial as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Northern Trust Corp lifted its position in shares of Ellington Financial by 39.8% in the fourth quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 1,092,902 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $13,246,000 after buying an additional 311,406 shares during the last quarter. Delphi Financial Group Inc. lifted its position in shares of Ellington Financial by 44.3% in the first quarter. Delphi Financial Group Inc. now owns 560,057 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $7,426,000 after buying an additional 171,926 shares during the last quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its position 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 valued at $78,228,000 after buying an additional 171,445 shares during the last quarter. Prevail Innovative Wealth Advisors LLC lifted its position in shares of Ellington Financial by 896.5% in the first quarter. Prevail Innovative Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 158,641 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $2,104,000 after buying an additional 142,721 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Castlekeep Investment Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Ellington Financial in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $1,613,000. 55.62% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of analysts have recently issued reports on EFC shares. Zacks Research raised Ellington Financial to a "strong-buy" rating in a research report on Tuesday, August 12th. B. Riley raised their price objective on Ellington Financial from $15.00 to $16.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research report on Thursday, May 15th. Piper Sandler cut their price objective on Ellington Financial from $15.00 to $14.50 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, July 1st. Jones Trading raised Ellington Financial from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating and set a $14.25 price objective for the company in a research report on Wednesday, August 13th. Finally, UBS Group raised their price objective on Ellington Financial from $12.00 to $12.50 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research report on Thursday, July 10th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, five have given a Buy rating and one has assigned a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Ellington Financial presently has an average rating of "Buy" and a consensus price target of $14.29.

Ellington Financial Stock Performance

NYSE:EFC traded up $0.3250 during mid-day trading on Friday, hitting $14.0150. 354,579 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,056,193. The stock has a market capitalization of $1.40 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 11.30 and a beta of 1.00. The firm's 50-day simple moving average is $13.14 and its 200 day simple moving average is $12.97. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 10.96, a quick ratio of 46.78 and a current ratio of 46.78. Ellington Financial Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $11.12 and a fifty-two week high of $14.40.

Ellington Financial (NYSE:EFC - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, August 7th. The financial services provider reported $0.47 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.40 by $0.07. The business had revenue of $92.54 million during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $112.48 million. Ellington Financial had a return on equity of 13.56% and a net margin of 89.52%. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that Ellington Financial Inc. will post 1.38 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Ellington Financial Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a monthly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, September 30th. Shareholders of record on Friday, August 29th will be issued a $0.13 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, August 29th. This represents a c) annualized dividend and a yield of 11.1%. Ellington Financial's payout ratio is currently 125.81%.

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.