Ellington Financial Inc. (NYSE:EFC) Given Average Rating of “Moderate Buy” by Brokerages

Ellington Financial Inc. (NYSE:EFC) has been assigned a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” from the five analysts that are presently covering the company, MarketBeat Ratings reports. Two analysts have rated the stock with a hold recommendation, two have given a buy recommendation and one has issued a strong buy recommendation on the company. The average 1 year price target among analysts that have issued a report on the stock in the last year is $14.0833.

EFC has been the subject of several research analyst reports. Wall Street Zen upgraded Ellington Financial from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Saturday, May 9th. Zacks Research raised Ellington Financial from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, May 13th. Finally, Weiss Ratings raised Ellington Financial from a “hold (c-)” rating to a “hold (c)” rating in a research note on Thursday, May 14th.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Ellington Financial

Several institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Dana Investment Advisors Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Ellington Financial during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $4,997,000. Denali Advisors LLC lifted its stake in shares of Ellington Financial by 679.9% during the 4th quarter. Denali Advisors LLC now owns 88,133 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $1,197,000 after acquiring an additional 76,833 shares during the last quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Ellington Financial by 7.2% during the 3rd quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 6,653,590 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $86,364,000 after acquiring an additional 449,074 shares during the last quarter. Artemis Investment Management LLP bought a new stake in shares of Ellington Financial during the 4th quarter worth approximately $2,654,000. Finally, M&T Bank Corp lifted its stake in shares of Ellington Financial by 453.1% during the 4th quarter. M&T Bank Corp now owns 67,899 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $922,000 after acquiring an additional 55,622 shares during the last quarter. 55.62% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Ellington Financial Stock Performance

NYSE EFC opened at $13.69 on Tuesday. The stock has a market capitalization of $1.72 billion, a PE ratio of 8.24 and a beta of 0.94. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $13.18 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $13.09. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 10.18, a current ratio of 42.65 and a quick ratio of 42.65. Ellington Financial has a 1-year low of $11.27 and a 1-year high of $14.12.

Ellington Financial (NYSE:EFC) last released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, May 5th. The financial services provider reported $0.55 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.42 by $0.13. The business had revenue of $188.83 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $114.09 million. Ellington Financial had a return on equity of 15.81% and a net margin of 72.08%. On average, research analysts predict that Ellington Financial will post 1.95 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Ellington Financial Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a monthly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, July 31st. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, June 30th will be paid a $0.13 dividend. This represents a c) annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 11.4%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, June 30th. Ellington Financial’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 93.98%.

Ellington Financial Company Profile

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.