Intech Investment Management LLC Has $1.96 Million Stock Position in Ellington Financial Inc. $EFC

Key Points

• Intech Investment Management LLC increased its stake in Ellington Financial Inc. by 22.5% during the first quarter, now holding a total of 147,601 shares worth approximately $1.96 million.
• Ellington Financial recently announced a dividend of $0.13 per share, which will be paid on October 31, representing a significant yield of 1,140.0%.
• Analysts have raised their price targets for Ellington Financial, with the consensus target now at $14.46 and multiple firms issuing "buy" ratings.

Intech Investment Management LLC grew its holdings in shares of Ellington Financial Inc. (NYSE:EFC - Free Report) by 22.5% during the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 147,601 shares of the financial services provider's stock after purchasing an additional 27,068 shares during the quarter. Intech Investment Management LLC owned approximately 0.16% of Ellington Financial worth $1,957,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its stake in Ellington Financial by 3.0% during the first quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 5,899,538 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $78,228,000 after purchasing an additional 171,445 shares during the period. Northern Trust Corp boosted its holdings in Ellington Financial by 2.1% in 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 in the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. boosted its holdings in Ellington Financial by 1.3% in the first quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 831,884 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $11,031,000 after purchasing an additional 10,860 shares in the last quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp boosted its holdings in Ellington Financial by 4.5% in the first quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 671,272 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $8,901,000 after purchasing an additional 29,188 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Delphi Financial Group Inc. boosted its holdings in 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 purchasing an additional 171,926 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 55.62% of the company's stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities research analysts have recently weighed in on EFC shares. UBS Group increased their price objective on Ellington Financial from $12.50 to $13.50 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a report on Wednesday, September 3rd. 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 report on Wednesday, August 13th. Piper Sandler decreased their price target on Ellington Financial from $15.00 to $14.50 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, July 1st. Finally, Zacks Research raised Ellington Financial to a "strong-buy" rating in a report on Tuesday, August 12th. One research 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 company. Based on data from MarketBeat, Ellington Financial presently has a consensus rating of "Buy" and a consensus price target of $14.46.

Ellington Financial Stock Performance

NYSE:EFC traded down $0.07 during midday trading on Friday, reaching $13.16. 3,147,385 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 1,362,661. Ellington Financial Inc. has a twelve month low of $11.12 and a twelve month high of $14.40. The firm has a market capitalization of $1.31 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 10.61 and a beta of 1.00. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 10.96, a current ratio of 46.78 and a quick ratio of 46.78. The company has a fifty day moving average price of $13.39 and a 200 day moving average price of $13.04.

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 (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.40 by $0.07. Ellington Financial had a return on equity of 13.56% and a net margin of 89.52%.The company had revenue of $92.54 million during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $112.48 million. On average, analysts expect that Ellington Financial Inc. will post 1.38 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Ellington Financial Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a sep 25 dividend, which will be paid on Friday, October 31st. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, September 30th will be paid a $0.13 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, September 30th. This represents a dividend yield of 1,140.0%. Ellington Financial's dividend payout ratio is presently 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.