Ellington Financial Inc. (NYSE:EFC) CIO Sells $71,508.00 in Stock

Ellington Financial Inc. (NYSE:EFC) CIO Michael W. Vranos sold 5,900 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, July 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $12.12, for a total value of $71,508.00. Following the transaction, the executive now directly owns 179,655 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,177,418.60. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink.

Ellington Financial Stock Up 0.2 %

NYSE EFC opened at $12.17 on Friday. Ellington Financial Inc. has a twelve month low of $10.88 and a twelve month high of $14.21. The stock has a market cap of $1.03 billion, a PE ratio of 19.02 and a beta of 1.97. The firm has a 50-day simple moving average of $11.99 and a 200 day simple moving average of $11.98. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 10.99, a quick ratio of 46.79 and a current ratio of 46.79.

Ellington Financial (NYSE:EFC) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, May 7th. The financial services provider reported $0.28 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.35 by ($0.07). Ellington Financial had a net margin of 66.65% and a return on equity of 10.51%. The firm had revenue of $31.06 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $26.68 million. On average, research analysts forecast that Ellington Financial Inc. will post 1.46 EPS for the current year.

Ellington Financial Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a monthly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, July 25th. Shareholders of record on Friday, June 28th will be issued a $0.13 dividend. This represents a $1.56 annualized dividend and a yield of 12.82%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, June 28th. Ellington Financial’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 243.75%.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Ellington Financial

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the business. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. lifted its stake in Ellington Financial by 20.3% during the fourth quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 658,398 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $8,368,000 after purchasing an additional 111,314 shares during the period. State of Alaska Department of Revenue boosted its stake in Ellington Financial by 14.1% in the 4th quarter. State of Alaska Department of Revenue now owns 48,320 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $614,000 after buying an additional 5,972 shares in the last quarter. Penserra Capital Management LLC grew its position in Ellington Financial by 14.5% in the third quarter. Penserra Capital Management LLC now owns 36,874 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $459,000 after acquiring an additional 4,664 shares during the period. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its stake in Ellington Financial by 1.3% during the third quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 4,263,422 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $53,165,000 after acquiring an additional 53,357 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Principal Financial Group Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Ellington Financial by 11.6% during the fourth quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 408,727 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $5,195,000 after acquiring an additional 42,555 shares during the period. 55.62% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of brokerages have recently weighed in on EFC. JMP Securities restated a “market outperform” rating and issued a $14.50 price objective on shares of Ellington Financial in a research note on Thursday, April 18th. BTIG Research decreased their price target on shares of Ellington Financial from $15.50 to $13.50 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, April 18th. Jonestrading assumed coverage on Ellington Financial in a research report on Friday, April 19th. They set a “hold” rating for the company. Finally, StockNews.com upgraded Ellington Financial from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Thursday, May 2nd. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and four have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $13.95.

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.