Ellington Financial Inc. (NYSE:EFC) Given Consensus Recommendation of “Moderate Buy” by Brokerages

Ellington Financial Inc. (NYSE:EFC) has been assigned an average recommendation of “Moderate Buy” from the six analysts that are currently covering the company, Marketbeat Ratings reports. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have assigned a buy rating to the company. The average 1 year price objective among brokers that have issued a report on the stock in the last year is $14.5625.

EFC has been the subject of a number of recent research reports. Wall Street Zen downgraded shares of Ellington Financial from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research note on Saturday. Weiss Ratings restated a “hold (c)” rating on shares of Ellington Financial in a report on Wednesday, January 21st.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Amundi increased its position 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 purchasing an additional 773,291 shares during the last quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Ellington Financial by 7.2% in the 3rd quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 6,653,590 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $86,364,000 after buying an additional 449,074 shares during the last quarter. Hudson Bay Capital Management LP acquired a new stake in shares of Ellington Financial in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $6,080,000. Dana Investment Advisors Inc. bought a new position in shares of Ellington Financial in the third quarter valued at $4,997,000. Finally, Millennium Management LLC bought a new position in shares of Ellington Financial in the third quarter valued at $4,941,000. 55.62% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Ellington Financial Stock Performance

Shares of EFC stock opened at $12.04 on Friday. Ellington Financial has a 12 month low of $11.12 and a 12 month high of $14.12. The company’s fifty day simple moving average is $13.15 and its 200-day simple moving average is $13.42. The firm has a market cap of $1.50 billion, a PE ratio of 9.79 and a beta of 0.95. The company has a quick ratio of 50.60, a current ratio of 47.25 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 11.02.

Ellington Financial (NYSE:EFC) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, February 25th. The financial services provider reported $0.47 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.44 by $0.03. Ellington Financial had a net margin of 53.10% and a return on equity of 14.62%. The business had revenue of $96.44 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $132.07 million. Equities research analysts expect that Ellington Financial will post 1.38 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Ellington Financial Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a monthly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, March 31st. Investors of record on Friday, February 27th will be given a dividend of $0.13 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, February 27th. This represents a c) annualized dividend and a yield of 13.0%. Ellington Financial’s dividend payout ratio is 126.83%.

Ellington Financial Company Profile

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.