Ellington Financial Inc. $EFC Shares Acquired by Public Sector Pension Investment Board

Key Points

• The Public Sector Pension Investment Board increased its stake in Ellington Financial Inc. by 27.3%, now holding 287,523 shares valued at approximately $3.81 million.
• Analysts have varied outlooks on Ellington Financial, with target prices ranging from $12.50 to $16.00, and a consensus price target of $14.29.
• Ellington Financial recently declared a monthly dividend of $0.13 per share, yielding 11.4%, despite a dividend payout ratio of 125.81%.

Public Sector Pension Investment Board grew its position in Ellington Financial Inc. (NYSE:EFC - Free Report) by 27.3% during the 1st quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 287,523 shares of the financial services provider's stock after purchasing an additional 61,672 shares during the quarter. Public Sector Pension Investment Board owned about 0.30% of Ellington Financial worth $3,813,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the company. California State Teachers Retirement System grew its holdings in Ellington Financial by 1.1% in the fourth quarter. California State Teachers Retirement System now owns 81,097 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $983,000 after purchasing an additional 873 shares during the last quarter. Arizona State Retirement System grew its holdings in Ellington Financial by 4.2% in the first quarter. Arizona State Retirement System now owns 26,280 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $348,000 after purchasing an additional 1,052 shares during the last quarter. Sigma Planning Corp grew its holdings in Ellington Financial by 2.8% in the first quarter. Sigma Planning Corp now owns 56,254 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $746,000 after purchasing an additional 1,510 shares during the last quarter. CenterStar Asset Management LLC grew its holdings in Ellington Financial by 14.6% in the first quarter. CenterStar Asset Management LLC now owns 12,828 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $170,000 after purchasing an additional 1,638 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Bank of America Corp DE grew its holdings in shares of Ellington Financial by 0.8% during the fourth quarter. Bank of America Corp DE now owns 196,381 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $2,380,000 after buying an additional 1,648 shares during the last quarter. 55.62% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of brokerages recently issued reports on EFC. UBS Group raised their target price on Ellington Financial from $12.00 to $12.50 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research note on Thursday, July 10th. Jones Trading raised Ellington Financial from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating and set a $14.25 target price for the company in a report on Wednesday, August 13th. Zacks Research raised Ellington Financial to a "strong-buy" rating in a report on Tuesday, August 12th. Piper Sandler decreased their target price 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, B. Riley lifted their target price on Ellington Financial from $15.00 to $16.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a report on Thursday, May 15th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, five have given a Buy rating and one has issued a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of "Buy" and an average price target of $14.29.

Ellington Financial Stock Performance

NYSE EFC traded up $0.3340 on Friday, reaching $14.0240. 1,240,987 shares of the company's stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 1,264,830. The firm has a market cap of $1.40 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 11.31 and a beta of 1.00. The stock has a 50 day moving average price of $13.16 and a 200-day moving average price of $12.98. Ellington Financial Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $11.12 and a fifty-two week high of $14.40. 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 (NYSE:EFC - Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results 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 company 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%. Equities research analysts predict that Ellington Financial Inc. will post 1.38 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Ellington Financial Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a monthly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, September 30th. Investors of record on Friday, August 29th will be given 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 yield of 11.1%. Ellington Financial's payout ratio is currently 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.