Northern Trust Corp Raises Stake in Ellington Financial Inc. $EFC

Key Points

• Northern Trust Corp increased its stake in Ellington Financial Inc. by 2.1%, now holding over 1.1 million shares valued at approximately $14.8 million.
• Several institutional investors have also raised their stakes in Ellington Financial, indicating strong interest, with total institutional ownership at 55.62%.
• Ellington Financial recently reported earnings that exceeded estimates, with EPS of $0.47 compared to the consensus of $0.40, although revenue was below expectations.

Northern Trust Corp lifted its position in shares of Ellington Financial Inc. (NYSE:EFC - Free Report) by 2.1% during the 1st quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The firm owned 1,115,881 shares of the financial services provider's stock after buying an additional 22,979 shares during the period. Northern Trust Corp owned 1.18% of Ellington Financial worth $14,797,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Ellington Financial by 3.0% during the 1st 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. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. lifted its position 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 worth $17,817,000 after buying an additional 67,807 shares during the period. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. lifted its position in Ellington Financial by 1.3% during the first quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 831,884 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $11,031,000 after buying an additional 10,860 shares during the period. Bank of New York Mellon Corp boosted its stake in Ellington Financial by 4.5% in the 1st quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 671,272 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $8,901,000 after buying an additional 29,188 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Delphi Financial Group Inc. grew its holdings in Ellington Financial by 44.3% in the 1st 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 period. 55.62% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research analysts have recently weighed in on EFC shares. UBS Group increased their price objective on shares of Ellington Financial from $12.50 to $13.50 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a report on Wednesday. Jones Trading raised shares of Ellington Financial from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating and set a $14.25 price target on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, August 13th. Piper Sandler lowered their price objective 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. Zacks Research upgraded Ellington Financial to a "strong-buy" rating in a report on Tuesday, August 12th. Finally, B. Riley lifted their target price on Ellington Financial from $15.00 to $16.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a report on Thursday, May 15th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, five have issued a Buy rating and one has assigned a Hold rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of "Buy" and an average price target of $14.46.

Ellington Financial Stock Up 0.5%

Shares of NYSE EFC opened at $13.65 on Thursday. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $13.30 and a 200 day moving average price of $13.03. The company has a current ratio of 46.78, a quick ratio of 46.78 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 10.96. Ellington Financial Inc. has a 12-month low of $11.12 and a 12-month high of $14.40. The company has a market cap of $1.36 billion, a P/E ratio of 11.00 and a beta of 1.00.

Ellington Financial (NYSE:EFC - Get Free Report) last issued its 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. 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 the consensus estimate of $112.48 million. Research analysts anticipate that Ellington Financial Inc. will post 1.38 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Ellington Financial Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a monthly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, September 30th. Stockholders of record on Friday, August 29th will be paid a dividend of $0.13 per share. The ex-dividend date is Friday, August 29th. This represents a c) dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 11.4%. Ellington Financial's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 125.81%.

Ellington Financial Company 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.

This instant news alert was generated by narrative science technology and financial data from MarketBeat in order to provide readers with the fastest and most accurate reporting. This story was reviewed by MarketBeat's editorial team prior to publication. Please send any questions or comments about this story to contact@marketbeat.com.