Rhumbline Advisers Has $2.99 Million Holdings in Ellington Financial Inc. (NYSE:EFC)

Rhumbline Advisers increased its holdings in Ellington Financial Inc. (NYSE:EFC) by 7.2% during the second quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 247,398 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 16,722 shares during the period. Rhumbline Advisers owned about 0.29% of Ellington Financial worth $2,989,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the business. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its position in Ellington Financial by 1.0% in the 1st quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 4,879,336 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $57,625,000 after purchasing an additional 45,979 shares in the last quarter. Easterly Investment Partners LLC bought a new stake in Ellington Financial in the 1st quarter worth about $23,326,000. UBS Group AG grew its position 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 worth $9,848,000 after purchasing an additional 647,700 shares in the last quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp grew its position in shares of Ellington Financial by 32.3% during the 2nd quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp now owns 751,997 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $9,084,000 after acquiring an additional 183,544 shares during the period. Finally, Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. grew its position in shares of Ellington Financial by 20.3% during the 4th quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 658,398 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $8,368,000 after acquiring an additional 111,314 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 55.62% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, CIO Michael W. Vranos sold 5,900 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred 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 transaction, the executive now directly owns 179,655 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,177,418.60. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. 4.40% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Ellington Financial Stock Down 0.8 %

EFC opened at $13.23 on Wednesday. The company has a 50 day moving average of $12.95 and a 200 day moving average of $12.17. The company has a market cap of $1.12 billion, a PE ratio of 20.66 and a beta of 1.98. Ellington Financial Inc. has a 12 month low of $10.88 and a 12 month high of $13.47. The company has a current ratio of 73.16, a quick ratio of 73.16 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 10.84.

Ellington Financial (NYSE:EFC) last released its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, August 6th. The financial services provider reported $0.33 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.36 by ($0.03). The business had revenue of $33.60 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $37.20 million. Ellington Financial had a return on equity of 9.76% and a net margin of 103.55%. During the same period last year, the business posted $0.38 earnings per share. On average, sell-side analysts expect that Ellington Financial Inc. will post 1.37 EPS for the current year.

Ellington Financial Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a monthly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, October 25th. Investors of record on Monday, September 30th will be issued a $0.13 dividend. This represents a $1.56 annualized dividend and a yield of 11.80%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, September 30th. Ellington Financial’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 243.75%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Separately, JMP Securities reduced their target price 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. Three analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and four have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Ellington Financial has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $13.85.

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.