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

Ellington Financial Inc. (NYSE:EFC) has earned a consensus recommendation of “Moderate Buy” from the eight ratings firms that are currently covering the company, MarketBeat reports. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold recommendation and five have given a buy recommendation to the company. The average 12-month price target among brokers that have issued a report on the stock in the last year is $14.4583.

Several equities research analysts recently weighed in on the stock. Zacks Research downgraded shares of Ellington Financial from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, October 10th. Weiss Ratings restated a “hold (c)” rating on shares of Ellington Financial in a research report on Wednesday, October 8th.

Ellington Financial Stock Up 1.3%

EFC opened at $14.03 on Friday. Ellington Financial has a 12 month low of $11.12 and a 12 month high of $14.40. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 10.64, a current ratio of 50.60 and a quick ratio of 50.60. The stock has a market cap of $1.56 billion, a P/E ratio of 10.47 and a beta of 0.95. The stock’s 50 day moving average price is $13.71 and its 200 day moving average price is $13.48.

Ellington Financial (NYSE:EFC) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, November 5th. The financial services provider reported $0.53 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.44 by $0.09. Ellington Financial had a return on equity of 14.55% and a net margin of 89.04%.The company had revenue of $242.08 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $121.99 million. As a group, research analysts predict that Ellington Financial will post 1.38 earnings per share for the current year.

Ellington Financial Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a monthly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, February 27th. Shareholders of record on Friday, January 30th will be given a $0.13 dividend. This represents a c) dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 11.1%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, January 30th. Ellington Financial’s dividend payout ratio is 116.42%.

Institutional Trading of Ellington Financial

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of EFC. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Ellington Financial by 7.2% in the third quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 6,653,590 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $86,364,000 after buying an additional 449,074 shares during the period. Invesco Ltd. raised its position in Ellington Financial by 17.6% in the third quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 2,218,506 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $28,796,000 after acquiring an additional 331,934 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC raised its position in Ellington Financial by 3.7% in the second quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 2,187,694 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $28,422,000 after acquiring an additional 77,047 shares in the last quarter. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. lifted its holdings in Ellington Financial by 7.0% in the 3rd quarter. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. now owns 1,566,268 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $20,330,000 after acquiring an additional 102,957 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Marshall Wace LLP boosted its position in shares of Ellington Financial by 21.0% during the 3rd quarter. Marshall Wace LLP now owns 1,430,160 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $18,563,000 after purchasing an additional 248,055 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 55.62% of the company’s stock.

About Ellington Financial

Ellington Financial, Inc (NYSE: EFC) is a mortgage real estate investment trust (REIT) that focuses on generating attractive risk-adjusted returns through investments in residential and commercial mortgage-related assets. Established in 2013, the company is externally managed by Ellington Financial Management, L.P., a subsidiary of Ellington Management Group, an alternative asset management firm. EFC’s core strategy centers on actively acquiring and managing agency and non-agency residential mortgage-backed securities (MBS), mortgage servicing rights, residential whole loans, and other structured finance instruments, including asset-backed securities and commercial mortgage-backed securities (CMBS).

The company employs leverage and structured financing tools—such as repurchase agreements and secured credit facilities—to enhance portfolio yield while maintaining focus on risk mitigation.