Ellington Financial’s (EFC) Market Outperform Rating Reaffirmed at JMP Securities

Ellington Financial (NYSE:EFC)‘s stock had its “market outperform” rating reaffirmed by equities researchers at JMP Securities in a report issued on Thursday, Benzinga reports. They presently have a $14.50 price objective on the financial services provider’s stock. JMP Securities’ price objective suggests a potential upside of 28.43% from the company’s previous close.

A number of other equities research analysts have also recently weighed in on the company. BTIG Research lowered their price target on Ellington Financial from $15.50 to $13.50 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday. StockNews.com cut shares of Ellington Financial from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research note on Wednesday. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods cut their target price on shares of Ellington Financial from $14.00 to $13.25 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, February 28th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, one has given a hold rating and four have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Ellington Financial currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $13.95.

Ellington Financial Stock Performance

NYSE EFC traded up $0.17 on Thursday, hitting $11.29. 222,915 shares of the company’s stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,114,358. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 11.30, a current ratio of 46.75 and a quick ratio of 46.75. The firm’s 50-day moving average price is $11.55 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $12.27. The firm has a market cap of $960.33 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of 12.53 and a beta of 1.92. Ellington Financial has a fifty-two week low of $10.88 and a fifty-two week high of $14.21.

Ellington Financial (NYSE:EFC) last issued its earnings results on Monday, February 26th. The financial services provider reported $0.40 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.41 by ($0.01). Ellington Financial had a return on equity of 11.36% and a net margin of 78.53%. The company had revenue of $27.99 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $30.77 million. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $0.42 earnings per share. On average, research analysts expect that Ellington Financial will post 1.53 EPS for the current year.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. BlackRock Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Ellington Financial by 8.6% during the first quarter. BlackRock Inc. now owns 11,559,525 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $141,142,000 after buying an additional 918,081 shares in the last quarter. UBS Group AG raised its holdings in Ellington Financial by 509.5% in the 4th quarter. UBS Group AG now owns 774,816 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $9,848,000 after acquiring an additional 647,700 shares during the last quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its holdings in Ellington Financial by 13.4% in the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 4,833,357 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $61,432,000 after acquiring an additional 569,935 shares during the last quarter. Balyasny Asset Management L.P. purchased a new position in shares of Ellington Financial during the 1st quarter worth $4,465,000. Finally, Invesco Ltd. boosted its holdings in shares of Ellington Financial by 32.2% during the third quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 1,388,380 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $17,313,000 after purchasing an additional 338,434 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 55.62% of the company’s stock.

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.