Ellington Financial Inc. (NYSE:EFC) CIO Sells $174,720.00 in Stock

Ellington Financial Inc. (NYSE:EFC) CIO Michael W. Vranos sold 14,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, October 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $12.48, for a total transaction of $174,720.00. Following the transaction, the executive now owns 168,359 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,101,120.32. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink.

Ellington Financial Price Performance

Shares of EFC opened at $12.81 on Friday. The company has a quick ratio of 73.16, a current ratio of 73.16 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 10.84. Ellington Financial Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $10.88 and a fifty-two week high of $13.46. The company has a market cap of $1.09 billion, a P/E ratio of 20.02 and a beta of 1.98. The firm’s 50 day moving average price is $12.95 and its 200 day moving average price is $12.37.

Ellington Financial (NYSE:EFC) last posted its earnings results on Tuesday, August 6th. The financial services provider reported $0.33 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.36 by ($0.03). The business had revenue of $33.60 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $37.20 million. Ellington Financial had a return on equity of 9.76% and a net margin of 103.55%. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $0.38 EPS. On average, research analysts forecast that Ellington Financial Inc. will post 1.37 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Ellington Financial Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a monthly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, November 25th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, October 31st will be issued a $0.13 dividend. This represents a $1.56 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 12.18%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, October 31st. Ellington Financial’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 243.75%.

Institutional Trading of Ellington Financial

Several large investors have recently bought and sold shares of EFC. 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 acquiring an additional 992 shares during the last quarter. Optimum Investment Advisors lifted its position in Ellington Financial by 7.8% during the first quarter. Optimum Investment Advisors now owns 13,900 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $164,000 after buying an additional 1,000 shares in the last quarter. Norden Group LLC increased its position in shares of Ellington Financial by 763.2% in the first quarter. Norden Group LLC now owns 107,506 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $1,270,000 after acquiring an additional 95,051 shares in the last quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. boosted its position in Ellington Financial by 0.6% during the 1st quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 411,161 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $4,856,000 after purchasing an additional 2,434 shares during the period. Finally, Van ECK Associates Corp raised its position in Ellington Financial by 12.6% in the first quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp now owns 568,453 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $6,713,000 after purchasing an additional 63,543 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 55.62% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Separately, JMP Securities dropped their target price on Ellington Financial from $14.50 to $14.00 and set a “market outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, July 24th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and four have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $13.85.

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.