Ellington Financial Inc. (NYSE:EFC) Sees Significant Decrease in Short Interest

Ellington Financial Inc. (NYSE:EFC) was the target of a large decrease in short interest in February. As of February 15th, there was short interest totalling 4,880,000 shares, a decrease of 11.6% from the January 31st total of 5,520,000 shares. Based on an average daily trading volume, of 929,000 shares, the short-interest ratio is currently 5.3 days.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

EFC has been the topic of several recent analyst reports. B. Riley raised Ellington Financial to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, January 7th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods boosted their price objective on Ellington Financial from $13.75 to $14.50 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Monday. Finally, JMP Securities reissued a “market outperform” rating and set a $14.00 target price on shares of Ellington Financial in a research note on Thursday, January 23rd. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, three have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Ellington Financial presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $14.00.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Ellington Financial

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Maryland State Retirement & Pension System grew its holdings in shares of Ellington Financial by 3.0% in the 4th quarter. Maryland State Retirement & Pension System now owns 30,531 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $370,000 after acquiring an additional 880 shares in the last quarter. Oregon Public Employees Retirement Fund boosted its position in Ellington Financial by 4.4% during the fourth quarter. Oregon Public Employees Retirement Fund now owns 21,364 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $259,000 after purchasing an additional 900 shares during the last quarter. Steward Partners Investment Advisory LLC grew its stake in Ellington Financial by 162.3% in the fourth quarter. Steward Partners Investment Advisory LLC now owns 2,602 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $32,000 after purchasing an additional 1,610 shares in the last quarter. Bank of America Corp DE increased its position in shares of Ellington Financial by 0.8% during the 4th quarter. Bank of America Corp DE now owns 196,381 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $2,380,000 after purchasing an additional 1,648 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Portside Wealth Group LLC raised its stake in shares of Ellington Financial by 13.3% during the 3rd quarter. Portside Wealth Group LLC now owns 14,415 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $186,000 after purchasing an additional 1,688 shares in the last quarter. 55.62% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Ellington Financial Stock Down 0.7 %

Shares of Ellington Financial stock traded down $0.10 during trading on Thursday, reaching $13.52. The stock had a trading volume of 998,777 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,080,704. The company has a current ratio of 37.04, a quick ratio of 37.04 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 10.87. The company has a market capitalization of $1.23 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 10.32 and a beta of 1.97. Ellington Financial has a 52 week low of $10.88 and a 52 week high of $14.40. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $12.66 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $12.64.

Ellington Financial (NYSE:EFC) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 27th. The financial services provider reported $0.45 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.38 by $0.07. The firm had revenue of $38.13 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $112.88 million. Ellington Financial had a return on equity of 10.26% and a net margin of 106.40%. Sell-side analysts predict that Ellington Financial will post 1.38 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Ellington Financial Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a monthly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, March 25th. Investors of record on Friday, February 28th will be given a $0.13 dividend. This represents a $1.56 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 11.54%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, February 28th. Ellington Financial’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 113.04%.

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.