Ellington Financial Inc. (NYSE:EFC) Receives $13.58 Average Target Price from Brokerages

Shares of Ellington Financial Inc. (NYSE:EFC) have been assigned a consensus rating of “Buy” from the five ratings firms that are currently covering the company, MarketBeat Ratings reports. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a hold recommendation, three have issued a buy recommendation and one has assigned a strong buy recommendation to the company. The average 1-year target price among brokers that have updated their coverage on the stock in the last year is $13.58.

Separately, B. Riley upgraded Ellington Financial to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, January 7th.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Ellington Financial

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the company. Barclays PLC increased its holdings in Ellington Financial by 230.3% during the 3rd quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 138,440 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $1,784,000 after purchasing an additional 96,525 shares during the period. State Street Corp grew its position in shares of Ellington Financial by 4.1% in the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 3,140,371 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $40,885,000 after buying an additional 124,943 shares during the last quarter. Harbor Capital Advisors Inc. lifted its stake in Ellington Financial by 146.5% in the third quarter. Harbor Capital Advisors Inc. now owns 726,779 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $9,368,000 after acquiring an additional 431,945 shares during the period. Intech Investment Management LLC bought a new stake in Ellington Financial in the third quarter valued at $695,000. Finally, Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. increased its position in Ellington Financial by 5.7% during the 3rd quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 778,931 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $10,040,000 after purchasing an additional 41,669 shares during the period. 55.62% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Ellington Financial Stock Performance

EFC stock opened at $12.24 on Friday. The business has a 50 day moving average of $12.26 and a 200-day moving average of $12.59. The firm has a market cap of $1.11 billion, a PE ratio of 9.34 and a beta of 1.97. Ellington Financial has a 12-month low of $10.88 and a 12-month high of $13.46. The company has a quick ratio of 37.04, a current ratio of 37.04 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 10.87.

Ellington Financial (NYSE:EFC) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, November 6th. The financial services provider reported $0.40 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.36 by $0.04. The company had revenue of $33.63 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $37.95 million. Ellington Financial had a return on equity of 10.26% and a net margin of 106.40%. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $0.33 EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that Ellington Financial will post 1.37 earnings per share for the current year.

Ellington Financial Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a monthly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, February 25th. Stockholders of record on Friday, January 31st will be paid a $0.13 dividend. This represents a $1.56 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 12.75%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, January 31st. Ellington Financial’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 119.08%.

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.