StockNews.com Lowers Ellington Financial (NYSE:EFC) to Sell

StockNews.com downgraded shares of Ellington Financial (NYSE:EFC) from a hold rating to a sell rating in a research report report published on Wednesday.

Separately, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods decreased their price target on shares of Ellington Financial from $14.00 to $13.25 and set an outperform rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, February 28th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have assigned a hold rating and four have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Ellington Financial currently has an average rating of Hold and a consensus target price of $13.95.

Ellington Financial Stock Performance

NYSE:EFC opened at $11.41 on Wednesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 11.30, a current ratio of 46.75 and a quick ratio of 46.75. The firm has a market capitalization of $970.50 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of 12.68 and a beta of 1.92. The company’s 50-day moving average is $11.53 and its two-hundred day moving average is $12.26. Ellington Financial has a 1-year low of $10.88 and a 1-year high of $14.21.

Ellington Financial (NYSE:EFC) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Monday, February 26th. The financial services provider reported $0.40 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.41 by ($0.01). Ellington Financial had a return on equity of 11.36% and a net margin of 78.53%. The company had revenue of $27.99 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $30.77 million. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $0.42 earnings per share. Analysts forecast that Ellington Financial will post 1.53 EPS for the current year.

Ellington Financial Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a monthly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, May 28th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, April 30th will be paid a $0.13 dividend. This represents a $1.56 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 13.67%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, April 29th. Ellington Financial’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 173.33%.

Institutional Trading of Ellington Financial

Several hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Norden Group LLC lifted its stake in shares of Ellington Financial by 763.2% in the 1st quarter. Norden Group LLC now owns 107,506 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $1,270,000 after acquiring an additional 95,051 shares during the period. Optimum Investment Advisors lifted its stake in shares of Ellington Financial by 7.8% in the 1st quarter. Optimum Investment Advisors now owns 13,900 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $164,000 after acquiring an additional 1,000 shares during the period. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Ellington Financial by 35.9% in the 4th quarter. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. now owns 3,757 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $48,000 after acquiring an additional 992 shares during the period. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Ellington Financial by 13.4% in the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 4,833,357 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $61,432,000 after acquiring an additional 569,935 shares during the period. Finally, Goldman Sachs Group Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Ellington Financial by 8.8% in the 4th quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. now owns 165,976 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $2,110,000 after purchasing an additional 13,426 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 55.62% 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.