Ellington Financial Inc. (NYSE:EFC) Plans $0.13 Monthly Dividend

Ellington Financial Inc. (NYSE:EFC) announced a monthly dividend on Wednesday, January 8th,Wall Street Journal reports. Stockholders of record on Friday, January 31st will be paid a dividend of 0.13 per share by the financial services provider on Tuesday, February 25th. This represents a $1.56 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 12.30%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, January 31st.

Ellington Financial has raised its dividend payment by an average of 2.6% annually over the last three years. Ellington Financial has a payout ratio of 90.7% meaning its dividend is currently covered by earnings, but may not be in the future if the company’s earnings decline. Analysts expect Ellington Financial to earn $1.67 per share next year, which means the company should continue to be able to cover its $1.56 annual dividend with an expected future payout ratio of 93.4%.

Ellington Financial Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE:EFC opened at $12.69 on Wednesday. The company’s 50 day simple moving average is $12.31 and its 200 day simple moving average is $12.61. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 10.87, a current ratio of 37.04 and a quick ratio of 37.04. Ellington Financial has a 1 year low of $10.88 and a 1 year high of $13.46. The stock has a market capitalization of $1.15 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 9.68 and a beta of 1.97.

Ellington Financial (NYSE:EFC) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, November 6th. The financial services provider reported $0.40 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.36 by $0.04. The company had revenue of $33.63 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $37.95 million. Ellington Financial had a return on equity of 10.26% and a net margin of 106.40%. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $0.33 EPS. As a group, research analysts predict that Ellington Financial will post 1.38 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

EFC has been the topic of a number of research analyst reports. B. Riley upgraded shares of Ellington Financial to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, January 7th. JMP Securities restated a “market outperform” rating and issued a $14.00 target price on shares of Ellington Financial in a research report on Thursday, January 23rd. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, three have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $13.58.

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.