Ellington Financial Inc. (NYSE:EFC) Short Interest Up 18.6% in July

Ellington Financial Inc. (NYSE:EFC) was the target of a significant increase in short interest during the month of July. As of July 31st, there was short interest totalling 5,610,000 shares, an increase of 18.6% from the July 15th total of 4,730,000 shares. Based on an average daily volume of 975,200 shares, the short-interest ratio is presently 5.8 days.

Insider Activity

In other news, CIO Michael W. Vranos sold 8,300 shares of Ellington Financial stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, June 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $12.11, for a total value of $100,513.00. Following the transaction, the executive now directly owns 169,174 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,048,697.14. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. In related news, CIO Michael W. Vranos sold 8,300 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, June 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $12.11, for a total value of $100,513.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive now owns 169,174 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,048,697.14. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, CIO Michael W. Vranos sold 5,900 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, July 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $12.12, for a total transaction of $71,508.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive now owns 179,655 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,177,418.60. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 22,500 shares of company stock valued at $272,866 over the last three months. Insiders own 4.40% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the business. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. lifted its position in Ellington Financial by 35.9% during the 4th quarter. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. now owns 3,757 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $48,000 after acquiring an additional 992 shares during the last quarter. Optimum Investment Advisors lifted its position in Ellington Financial by 7.8% during the 1st quarter. Optimum Investment Advisors now owns 13,900 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $164,000 after acquiring an additional 1,000 shares during the last quarter. Maryland State Retirement & Pension System lifted its position in Ellington Financial by 3.6% during the 2nd quarter. Maryland State Retirement & Pension System now owns 29,651 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $358,000 after acquiring an additional 1,043 shares during the last quarter. ProShare Advisors LLC lifted its position in Ellington Financial by 7.4% during the 1st quarter. ProShare Advisors LLC now owns 15,246 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $180,000 after acquiring an additional 1,057 shares during the last quarter. Finally, New York State Teachers Retirement System lifted its position in Ellington Financial by 5.2% during the 4th quarter. New York State Teachers Retirement System now owns 22,100 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $281,000 after acquiring an additional 1,100 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 55.62% of the company’s stock.

Ellington Financial Stock Up 1.0 %

Shares of Ellington Financial stock traded up $0.13 during midday trading on Friday, reaching $13.07. 252,483 shares of the company’s stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 1,012,908. The company has a market cap of $1.11 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 20.23 and a beta of 1.97. The company’s 50 day simple moving average is $12.48 and its 200 day simple moving average is $11.99. 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 has a 52 week low of $10.88 and a 52 week high of $13.50.

Ellington Financial (NYSE:EFC) last released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, August 6th. The financial services provider reported $0.33 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.36 by ($0.03). The business had revenue of $33.60 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $37.20 million. Ellington Financial had a net margin of 66.65% and a return on equity of 10.51%. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted $0.38 EPS. Equities analysts expect that Ellington Financial will post 1.46 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Ellington Financial Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a monthly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, September 25th. Stockholders of record on Friday, August 30th will be issued a dividend of $0.13 per share. The ex-dividend date is Friday, August 30th. This represents a $1.56 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 11.94%. Ellington Financial’s dividend payout ratio is currently 243.75%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities research analysts recently commented on EFC shares. BTIG Research reduced their price target on shares of Ellington Financial from $15.50 to $13.50 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, April 18th. JMP Securities cut their target price on shares of Ellington Financial from $14.50 to $14.00 and set a “market outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, July 24th. StockNews.com upgraded shares of Ellington Financial from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday, May 2nd. Finally, Jonestrading initiated coverage on shares of Ellington Financial in a research report on Friday, April 19th. They issued a “hold” rating for the company. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and four have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Ellington Financial has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $13.85.

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.