Easterly Investment Partners LLC Sells 630,605 Shares of Ellington Financial Inc. (NYSE:EFC)

Easterly Investment Partners LLC lessened its position in shares of Ellington Financial Inc. (NYSE:EFC) by 35.0% in the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 1,172,473 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 630,605 shares during the quarter. Ellington Financial comprises 1.2% of Easterly Investment Partners LLC’s holdings, making the stock its 17th biggest position. Easterly Investment Partners LLC owned 1.35% of Ellington Financial worth $15,113,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Global Retirement Partners LLC grew its holdings in Ellington Financial by 2.0% in the third quarter. Global Retirement Partners LLC now owns 47,814 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $616,000 after purchasing an additional 919 shares during the last quarter. Maryland State Retirement & Pension System grew its stake 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 buying an additional 1,043 shares during the last quarter. ProShare Advisors LLC increased 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 valued at $180,000 after buying an additional 1,057 shares in the last quarter. Texas Permanent School Fund Corp increased its position in Ellington Financial by 2.3% during the 1st quarter. Texas Permanent School Fund Corp now owns 68,987 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $815,000 after buying an additional 1,548 shares in the last quarter. Finally, CWM LLC raised its stake in Ellington Financial by 150.2% in the second quarter. CWM LLC now owns 2,602 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $31,000 after buying an additional 1,562 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 55.62% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Separately, JMP Securities cut their price objective on shares of Ellington Financial from $14.50 to $14.00 and set a “market outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, July 24th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Ellington Financial presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $13.56.

Ellington Financial Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE EFC traded up $0.15 during mid-day trading on Friday, hitting $12.58. The stock had a trading volume of 514,956 shares, compared to its average volume of 967,391. The firm has a market cap of $1.09 billion, a PE ratio of 10.19 and a beta of 1.99. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 10.84, a quick ratio of 73.16 and a current ratio of 73.16. The company has a 50 day moving average of $12.75 and a two-hundred day moving average of $12.48. Ellington Financial Inc. has a twelve month low of $10.88 and a twelve month high of $13.46.

Ellington Financial (NYSE:EFC) last announced its quarterly earnings data 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). Ellington Financial had a net margin of 103.55% and a return on equity of 9.76%. The firm had revenue of $33.60 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $37.20 million. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $0.38 earnings per share. Research analysts predict that Ellington Financial Inc. will post 1.37 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Ellington Financial Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a monthly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, November 25th. Investors of record on Thursday, October 31st will be issued a $0.13 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, October 31st. This represents a $1.56 annualized dividend and a yield of 12.40%. Ellington Financial’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 127.87%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, CIO Michael W. Vranos sold 14,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Monday, October 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $12.48, for a total value of $174,720.00. Following the sale, the executive now directly owns 168,359 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,101,120.32. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. 4.40% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Ellington Financial 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.