Healthcare of Ontario Pension Plan Trust Fund Makes New $1.28 Million Investment in Ellington Financial Inc. $EFC

Key Points

• Healthcare of Ontario Pension Plan Trust Fund acquired 108,392 shares of Ellington Financial, valued at approximately $1.28 million, giving it a 0.09% stake. Institutional investors collectively own 55.62% of the company.
• Analyst sentiment is largely neutral: one analyst rates EFC a Buy and four rate it Hold, producing a consensus “Hold” rating and a $13.88 target price.
• Ellington Financial reported quarterly EPS of $0.55, beating estimates of $0.42, and announced a monthly $0.13 dividend, representing an annualized yield of about 11.7%.

Healthcare of Ontario Pension Plan Trust Fund bought a new stake in shares of Ellington Financial Inc. (NYSE:EFC - Free Report) in the first quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund bought 108,392 shares of the financial services provider's stock, valued at approximately $1,284,000. Healthcare of Ontario Pension Plan Trust Fund owned approximately 0.09% of Ellington Financial as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in EFC. Lido Advisors LLC grew its position in shares of Ellington Financial by 3.1% during the 1st quarter. Lido Advisors LLC now owns 70,904 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $849,000 after buying an additional 2,134 shares in the last quarter. Cetera Investment Advisers increased its stake in shares of Ellington Financial by 9.5% during the first quarter. Cetera Investment Advisers now owns 24,882 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $295,000 after buying an additional 2,161 shares during the period. First Trust Advisors LP raised its holdings in shares of Ellington Financial by 263.7% in the first quarter. First Trust Advisors LP now owns 593,740 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $7,036,000 after acquiring an additional 430,477 shares in the last quarter. Swiss National Bank raised its holdings in shares of Ellington Financial by 11.8% in the first quarter. Swiss National Bank now owns 220,200 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $2,609,000 after acquiring an additional 23,300 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Bank of New York Mellon Corp lifted its stake in Ellington Financial by 13.6% in the first quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 810,885 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $9,609,000 after acquiring an additional 97,007 shares during the period. 55.62% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

EFC has been the topic of a number of research reports. Zacks Research downgraded shares of Ellington Financial from a "strong-buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Monday, July 13th. Wall Street Zen raised shares of Ellington Financial from a "sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Saturday, May 9th. BTIG Research downgraded shares of Ellington Financial from a "buy" rating to a "neutral" rating in a research note on Wednesday, June 17th. Finally, Weiss Ratings raised shares of Ellington Financial from a "hold (c-)" rating to a "hold (c)" rating in a report on Thursday, May 14th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Buy rating and four have assigned a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Ellington Financial has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $13.88.

Ellington Financial Stock Performance

Shares of Ellington Financial stock opened at $13.29 on Friday. The company has a market capitalization of $1.67 billion, a PE ratio of 8.00 and a beta of 0.93. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $13.52 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $13.04. Ellington Financial Inc. has a one year low of $11.27 and a one year high of $14.12. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 10.18, a quick ratio of 42.65 and a current ratio of 42.65.

Ellington Financial (NYSE:EFC - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, May 5th. The financial services provider reported $0.55 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $0.42 by $0.13. Ellington Financial had a net margin of 72.08% and a return on equity of 15.81%. The business had revenue of $188.83 million for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $114.09 million. Research analysts expect that Ellington Financial Inc. will post 1.95 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Ellington Financial Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a monthly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, August 31st. Shareholders of record on Friday, July 31st will be paid a $0.13 dividend. This represents a c) annualized dividend and a yield of 11.7%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, July 31st. Ellington Financial's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 93.98%.

Ellington Financial Company Profile

Ellington Financial, Inc NYSE: EFC is a mortgage real estate investment trust (REIT) that focuses on generating attractive risk-adjusted returns through investments in residential and commercial mortgage-related assets. Established in 2013, the company is externally managed by Ellington Financial Management, L.P., a subsidiary of Ellington Management Group, an alternative asset management firm. EFC's core strategy centers on actively acquiring and managing agency and non-agency residential mortgage-backed securities (MBS), mortgage servicing rights, residential whole loans, and other structured finance instruments, including asset-backed securities and commercial mortgage-backed securities (CMBS).

The company employs leverage and structured financing tools—such as repurchase agreements and secured credit facilities—to enhance portfolio yield while maintaining focus on risk mitigation.

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