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

StockNews.com lowered shares of Ellington Financial (NYSE:EFC) from a hold rating to a sell rating in a report released on Wednesday morning.

Separately, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods decreased their price objective on Ellington Financial from $14.00 to $13.25 and set an outperform rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, February 28th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, one has given a hold rating and three have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Ellington Financial currently has a consensus rating of Hold and an average price target of $14.06.

Ellington Financial Stock Up 0.8 %

EFC opened at $11.12 on Wednesday. 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 firm has a market cap of $945.44 million, a P/E ratio of 12.35 and a beta of 1.92. Ellington Financial has a 52 week low of $10.88 and a 52 week high of $14.21. The business’s fifty day simple moving average is $11.55 and its 200 day simple moving average is $12.27.

Ellington Financial (NYSE:EFC) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Monday, February 26th. The financial services provider reported $0.40 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.41 by ($0.01). The company had revenue of $27.99 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $30.77 million. Ellington Financial had a net margin of 78.53% and a return on equity of 11.36%. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $0.42 EPS. As a group, equities research analysts anticipate that Ellington Financial will post 1.53 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Ellington Financial Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a monthly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, May 28th. Investors of record on Tuesday, April 30th will be given a dividend of $0.13 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, April 29th. This represents a $1.56 annualized dividend and a yield of 14.04%. Ellington Financial’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 173.34%.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Ellington Financial

Several large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in EFC. BlackRock Inc. lifted its position in Ellington Financial by 8.6% during the first quarter. BlackRock Inc. now owns 11,559,525 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $141,142,000 after buying an additional 918,081 shares during the period. UBS Group AG raised its holdings in shares of Ellington Financial by 509.5% in the 4th quarter. UBS Group AG now owns 774,816 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $9,848,000 after purchasing an additional 647,700 shares during the period. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its holdings 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 purchasing an additional 569,935 shares during the period. Balyasny Asset Management L.P. purchased a new position in shares of Ellington Financial in the 1st quarter worth about $4,465,000. Finally, Invesco Ltd. raised 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 purchasing an additional 338,434 shares during the period. 55.62% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.