Motiv8 Investments LLC Takes Position in Ellington Financial Inc. (NYSE:EFC)

Motiv8 Investments LLC purchased a new position in Ellington Financial Inc. (NYSE:EFC) during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor purchased 11,008 shares of the financial services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $133,000.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in EFC. Harbor Capital Advisors Inc. grew its stake in shares of Ellington Financial by 146.5% in the third quarter. Harbor Capital Advisors Inc. now owns 726,779 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $9,368,000 after acquiring an additional 431,945 shares during the last quarter. GraniteShares Advisors LLC bought a new stake in Ellington Financial during the 4th quarter valued at about $2,462,000. Strategic Financial Concepts LLC raised its holdings in Ellington Financial by 1,030.8% in the fourth quarter. Strategic Financial Concepts LLC now owns 219,372 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $2,659,000 after buying an additional 199,972 shares during the last quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp lifted its stake in shares of Ellington Financial by 28.6% in the fourth quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp now owns 872,588 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $10,576,000 after buying an additional 194,153 shares in the last quarter. Finally, State Street Corp lifted its stake in shares of Ellington Financial by 4.1% in the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 3,140,371 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $40,885,000 after buying an additional 124,943 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 55.62% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities research analysts recently weighed in on EFC shares. B. Riley raised shares of Ellington Financial to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, January 7th. JMP Securities reissued a “market outperform” rating and issued a $14.00 target price on shares of Ellington Financial in a report on Thursday, January 23rd. Two analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, three have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Ellington Financial has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $13.58.

Ellington Financial Stock Up 0.3 %

Shares of Ellington Financial stock opened at $13.35 on Thursday. Ellington Financial Inc. has a twelve month low of $10.88 and a twelve month high of $13.46. The company has a quick ratio of 37.04, a current ratio of 37.04 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 10.87. The company’s 50 day moving average is $12.53 and its 200 day moving average is $12.62. The company has a market cap of $1.21 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 10.19 and a beta of 1.97.

Ellington Financial Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a monthly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, March 25th. Stockholders of record on Friday, February 28th will be issued a dividend of $0.13 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, February 28th. This represents a $1.56 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 11.69%. Ellington Financial’s payout ratio is 119.08%.

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.