Ellington Financial (NYSE:EFC) Price Target Lowered to $13.50 at BTIG Research

Ellington Financial (NYSE:EFC) had its price target lowered by BTIG Research from $15.50 to $13.50 in a research note released on Thursday, Benzinga reports. BTIG Research currently has a buy rating on the financial services provider’s stock.

EFC has been the topic of a number of other reports. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods cut their price objective on Ellington Financial from $14.00 to $13.25 and set an outperform rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, February 28th. StockNews.com cut shares of Ellington Financial from a hold rating to a sell rating in a research note on Wednesday. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, one has assigned a hold rating and four have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, Ellington Financial has an average rating of Moderate Buy and a consensus target price of $13.95.

Ellington Financial Price Performance

Shares of EFC stock opened at $11.27 on Thursday. The firm has a market capitalization of $958.20 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of 12.52 and a beta of 1.92. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 11.30, a quick ratio of 46.75 and a current ratio of 46.75. The stock’s 50-day simple moving average is $11.54 and its 200-day simple moving average is $12.26. Ellington Financial has a fifty-two week low of $10.88 and a fifty-two week high of $14.21.

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

Ellington Financial Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a monthly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, May 28th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, April 30th will be issued a dividend of $0.13 per share. This represents a $1.56 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 13.85%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, April 29th. Ellington Financial’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 173.34%.

Institutional Trading of Ellington Financial

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in EFC. Optimum Investment Advisors grew its position in shares of Ellington Financial by 7.8% during the 1st quarter. Optimum Investment Advisors now owns 13,900 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $164,000 after acquiring an additional 1,000 shares during the period. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. boosted its position in Ellington Financial by 35.9% during the fourth quarter. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. now owns 3,757 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $48,000 after purchasing an additional 992 shares in the last quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its holdings in Ellington Financial by 13.4% in the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 4,833,357 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $61,432,000 after purchasing an additional 569,935 shares during the period. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. increased its position in shares of Ellington Financial by 8.8% in the fourth quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. now owns 165,976 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $2,110,000 after buying an additional 13,426 shares in the last quarter. Finally, American International Group Inc. raised its stake in shares of Ellington Financial by 14.1% during the 4th quarter. American International Group Inc. now owns 41,067 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $522,000 after buying an additional 5,086 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 55.62% of the company’s stock.

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.