55,300 Shares in Ellington Financial Inc. $EFC Purchased by Louisiana State Employees Retirement System

Louisiana State Employees Retirement System purchased a new position in Ellington Financial Inc. (NYSE:EFC) during the first quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The institutional investor purchased 55,300 shares of the financial services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $655,000.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of EFC. Amundi lifted its holdings in shares of Ellington Financial by 106.8% during the 4th quarter. Amundi now owns 1,497,373 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $20,334,000 after acquiring an additional 773,291 shares during the period. Hudson Bay Capital Management LP acquired a new stake in shares of Ellington Financial in the fourth quarter worth approximately $6,080,000. Millennium Management LLC purchased a new stake in Ellington Financial in the third quarter valued at approximately $4,941,000. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its position in Ellington Financial by 5.3% during the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 7,003,038 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $95,101,000 after purchasing an additional 349,448 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Invesco Ltd. increased its position in Ellington Financial by 17.6% during the third quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 2,218,506 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $28,796,000 after purchasing an additional 331,934 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 55.62% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities analysts have weighed in on EFC shares. Weiss Ratings upgraded shares of Ellington Financial from a “hold (c-)” rating to a “hold (c)” rating in a report on Thursday, May 14th. Zacks Research raised Ellington Financial from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, May 13th. BTIG Research cut Ellington Financial from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating in a report on Wednesday, June 17th. Finally, Wall Street Zen raised Ellington Financial from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Saturday, May 9th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, one has assigned a Buy rating and three have issued a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $13.88.

Ellington Financial Stock Down 0.1%

Ellington Financial stock traded down $0.01 during trading on Tuesday, reaching $13.57. 68,333 shares of the company’s stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,743,916. The company’s 50-day moving average is $13.49 and its two-hundred day moving average is $13.07. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 10.18, a quick ratio of 42.65 and a current ratio of 42.65. Ellington Financial Inc. has a 52-week low of $11.27 and a 52-week high of $14.12. The firm has a market cap of $1.70 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 8.19 and a beta of 0.93.

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

Ellington Financial Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a monthly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, July 31st. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, June 30th will be issued a $0.13 dividend. This represents a c) dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 11.5%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, June 30th. Ellington Financial’s dividend payout ratio is currently 93.98%.

About Ellington Financial

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.