Ellington Financial Inc. (NYSE:EFC) Given Consensus Recommendation of “Buy” by Brokerages

Shares of Ellington Financial Inc. (NYSE:EFC) have been given a consensus recommendation of “Buy” by the five research firms that are covering the firm, MarketBeat reports. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a hold recommendation, three have assigned a buy recommendation and one has issued a strong buy recommendation on the company. The average 12-month target price among analysts that have covered the stock in the last year is $14.00.

A number of research firms have issued reports on EFC. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods boosted their price objective on shares of Ellington Financial from $13.75 to $14.50 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Monday, March 3rd. JMP Securities reiterated a “market outperform” rating and issued a $14.00 price target on shares of Ellington Financial in a research note on Thursday, January 23rd. Finally, B. Riley upgraded Ellington Financial to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, January 7th.

Institutional Trading of Ellington Financial

Several large investors have recently made changes to their positions in EFC. Delphi Financial Group Inc. bought a new stake in Ellington Financial during the fourth quarter worth $4,704,000. Invesco Ltd. raised its holdings in shares of Ellington Financial by 17.2% during the 4th quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 2,364,583 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $28,659,000 after buying an additional 347,587 shares in the last quarter. Northern Trust Corp lifted its position in shares of Ellington Financial by 39.8% during the 4th quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 1,092,902 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $13,246,000 after buying an additional 311,406 shares during the last quarter. GraniteShares Advisors LLC bought a new stake in shares of Ellington Financial during the 4th quarter worth $2,462,000. Finally, Strategic Financial Concepts LLC boosted its stake 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 valued at $2,659,000 after buying an additional 199,972 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 55.62% of the company’s stock.

Ellington Financial Stock Performance

EFC opened at $13.36 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 10.87, a current ratio of 37.04 and a quick ratio of 37.04. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $13.06 and a 200 day simple moving average of $12.67. Ellington Financial has a 1 year low of $10.88 and a 1 year high of $14.40. The company has a market capitalization of $1.21 billion, a PE ratio of 10.19 and a beta of 1.99.

Ellington Financial (NYSE:EFC) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, February 27th. The financial services provider reported $0.45 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.38 by $0.07. Ellington Financial had a net margin of 106.40% and a return on equity of 10.26%. The company had revenue of $38.13 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $112.88 million. Research analysts expect that Ellington Financial will post 1.38 EPS for the current year.

Ellington Financial Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a mar 25 dividend, which will be paid on Friday, April 25th. Stockholders of record on Monday, March 31st will be given a $0.13 dividend. This represents a dividend yield of 11.7%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, March 31st. Ellington Financial’s payout ratio is presently 113.04%.

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.