Ellington Financial Inc. Announces Monthly Dividend of $0.13 (NYSE:EFC)

Ellington Financial Inc. (NYSE:EFC) declared a monthly dividend on Friday, December 6th,NASDAQ Dividends reports. Investors of record on Tuesday, December 31st will be given a dividend of 0.13 per share by the financial services provider on Monday, January 27th. This represents a $1.56 annualized dividend and a yield of 12.81%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, December 31st.

Ellington Financial has increased its dividend by an average of 12.7% per year over the last three years. Ellington Financial has a dividend payout ratio of 96.3% indicating that its dividend is currently covered by earnings, but may not be in the future if the company’s earnings tumble. Research analysts expect Ellington Financial to earn $1.67 per share next year, which means the company should continue to be able to cover its $1.56 annual dividend with an expected future payout ratio of 93.4%.

Ellington Financial Stock Down 0.5 %

Shares of NYSE:EFC opened at $12.18 on Friday. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $12.31 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $12.59. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 10.87, a quick ratio of 37.04 and a current ratio of 37.04. The company has a market capitalization of $1.10 billion, a PE ratio of 9.30 and a beta of 1.97. Ellington Financial has a 52 week low of $10.88 and a 52 week high of $13.46.

Ellington Financial (NYSE:EFC) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, November 6th. The financial services provider reported $0.40 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.36 by $0.04. The business had revenue of $33.63 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $37.95 million. Ellington Financial had a net margin of 106.40% and a return on equity of 10.26%. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $0.33 EPS. Analysts forecast that Ellington Financial will post 1.37 earnings per share for the current year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, CIO Michael W. Vranos sold 14,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, October 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $12.48, for a total value of $174,720.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive now owns 168,359 shares in the company, valued at $2,101,120.32. This represents a 7.68 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Corporate insiders own 4.40% of the company’s stock.

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.