Ellington Financial (NYSE:EFC) Coverage Initiated by Analysts at Jonestrading

Stock analysts at Jonestrading began coverage on shares of Ellington Financial (NYSE:EFC) in a note issued to investors on Friday, Benzinga reports. The firm set a “hold” rating on the financial services provider’s stock.

A number of other analysts have also recently commented on the stock. BTIG Research dropped their price target on shares of Ellington Financial from $15.50 to $13.50 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods dropped their price target on shares of Ellington Financial from $14.00 to $13.25 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, February 28th. JMP Securities restated a “market outperform” rating and set a $14.50 price target on shares of Ellington Financial in a research note on Thursday. Finally, StockNews.com cut shares of Ellington Financial from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research note on Wednesday. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have issued a hold rating and four have given a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $13.95.

Ellington Financial Stock Up 1.3 %

EFC opened at $11.27 on Friday. The company has a quick ratio of 46.75, a current ratio of 46.75 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 11.30. The stock has a market cap of $958.20 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of 12.52 and a beta of 1.92. Ellington Financial has a twelve month low of $10.88 and a twelve month high of $14.21. The company’s 50-day moving average price is $11.54 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $12.26.

Ellington Financial (NYSE:EFC) last released its earnings results on Monday, February 26th. The financial services provider reported $0.40 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.41 by ($0.01). The company had revenue of $27.99 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $30.77 million. Ellington Financial had a net margin of 78.53% and a return on equity of 11.36%. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $0.42 earnings per share. As a group, equities analysts expect that Ellington Financial will post 1.53 earnings per share for the current year.

Institutional Trading of Ellington Financial

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Invesco Ltd. increased its holdings in shares of Ellington Financial by 32.2% in the 3rd quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 1,388,380 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $17,313,000 after buying an additional 338,434 shares during the last quarter. Wolverine Asset Management LLC bought a new position in shares of Ellington Financial in the 3rd quarter worth $884,000. State of Alaska Department of Revenue increased its holdings in shares of Ellington Financial by 14.1% in the 4th quarter. State of Alaska Department of Revenue now owns 48,320 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $614,000 after buying an additional 5,972 shares during the last quarter. Penserra Capital Management LLC increased its holdings in shares of Ellington Financial by 14.5% in the 3rd quarter. Penserra Capital Management LLC now owns 36,874 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $459,000 after buying an additional 4,664 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Sigma Planning Corp increased its holdings in shares of Ellington Financial by 200.7% in the 3rd quarter. Sigma Planning Corp now owns 65,483 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $817,000 after buying an additional 43,708 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 55.62% of the company’s stock.

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.