Ellington Financial Inc. (NYSE:EFC) Receives Consensus Recommendation of “Moderate Buy” from Analysts

Ellington Financial Inc. (NYSE:EFC) has received an average recommendation of “Moderate Buy” from the six analysts that are covering the company, Marketbeat Ratings reports. Two analysts have rated the stock with a hold recommendation and four have assigned a buy recommendation to the company. The average 1 year price objective among brokerages that have covered the stock in the last year is $13.85.

EFC has been the subject of several recent research reports. JMP Securities lowered their price objective on shares of Ellington Financial from $14.50 to $14.00 and set a “market outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, July 24th. Jonestrading started coverage on shares of Ellington Financial in a research report on Friday, April 19th. They issued a “hold” rating for the company. BTIG Research decreased their price target on shares of Ellington Financial from $15.50 to $13.50 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, April 18th. Finally, StockNews.com raised shares of Ellington Financial from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday, May 2nd.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Ellington Financial news, CIO Michael W. Vranos sold 8,300 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Monday, June 17th. The stock was sold at an average price of $12.15, for a total value of $100,845.00. Following the sale, the executive now directly owns 160,874 shares in the company, valued at $1,954,619.10. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. In other Ellington Financial news, CIO Michael W. Vranos sold 8,300 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Monday, June 17th. The stock was sold at an average price of $12.15, for a total value of $100,845.00. Following the sale, the executive now directly owns 160,874 shares in the company, valued at $1,954,619.10. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, CIO Michael W. Vranos sold 5,900 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, July 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $12.12, for a total value of $71,508.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive now owns 179,655 shares in the company, valued at $2,177,418.60. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 22,500 shares of company stock worth $272,866 over the last ninety days. 4.40% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Ellington Financial

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of EFC. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its stake in shares of Ellington Financial by 1.3% during the third quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 4,263,422 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $53,165,000 after purchasing an additional 53,357 shares in the last quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC bought a new stake in shares of Ellington Financial during the fourth quarter valued at about $102,000. State of Alaska Department of Revenue raised its stake in shares of Ellington Financial by 14.1% during the fourth quarter. State of Alaska Department of Revenue now owns 48,320 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $614,000 after purchasing an additional 5,972 shares in the last quarter. Private Trust Co. NA raised its stake in shares of Ellington Financial by 42.8% during the fourth quarter. Private Trust Co. NA now owns 4,334 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $55,000 after purchasing an additional 1,299 shares in the last quarter. Finally, New York State Teachers Retirement System raised its stake in shares of Ellington Financial by 5.2% during the fourth quarter. New York State Teachers Retirement System now owns 22,100 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $281,000 after purchasing an additional 1,100 shares in the last quarter. 55.62% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Ellington Financial Trading Down 1.2 %

NYSE EFC opened at $12.50 on Friday. Ellington Financial has a one year low of $10.88 and a one year high of $13.50. The company’s 50 day moving average price is $12.38 and its 200 day moving average price is $12.00. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 10.99, a quick ratio of 46.79 and a current ratio of 46.79. The firm has a market capitalization of $1.06 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 19.52 and a beta of 1.97.

Ellington Financial (NYSE:EFC) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, May 7th. The financial services provider reported $0.28 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.35 by ($0.07). Ellington Financial had a net margin of 66.65% and a return on equity of 10.51%. The firm had revenue of $31.06 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $26.68 million. On average, sell-side analysts predict that Ellington Financial will post 1.46 EPS for the current year.

Ellington Financial Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a monthly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, August 26th. Investors of record on Wednesday, July 31st will be paid a dividend of $0.13 per share. This represents a $1.56 annualized dividend and a yield of 12.48%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, July 31st. Ellington Financial’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 243.75%.

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.