CenterStar Asset Management LLC Purchases New Stake in Ellington Financial Inc. (NYSE:EFC)

CenterStar Asset Management LLC acquired a new position in Ellington Financial Inc. (NYSE:EFC) in the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The institutional investor acquired 11,190 shares of the financial services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $136,000.

Other large investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Longboard Asset Management LP bought a new stake in shares of Ellington Financial in the 4th quarter valued at about $179,000. Clear Harbor Asset Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of Ellington Financial in the 4th quarter valued at $564,000. Harbor Capital Advisors Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Ellington Financial by 3.1% in the 4th quarter. Harbor Capital Advisors Inc. now owns 749,307 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $9,082,000 after buying an additional 22,528 shares during the period. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased its holdings in shares of Ellington Financial by 48.0% in the third quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 231,543 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $2,985,000 after acquiring an additional 75,143 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Barclays PLC raised its holdings in Ellington Financial by 230.3% during the 3rd quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 138,440 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $1,784,000 after buying an additional 96,525 shares during the period. 55.62% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Ellington Financial Stock Performance

NYSE EFC opened at $12.55 on Tuesday. The firm’s fifty day moving average price is $12.32 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $12.59. Ellington Financial Inc. has a 1 year low of $10.88 and a 1 year high of $13.46. The firm has a market capitalization of $1.14 billion, a P/E ratio of 9.58 and a beta of 1.97. The company has a current ratio of 37.04, a quick ratio of 37.04 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 10.87.

Ellington Financial (NYSE:EFC) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, November 6th. The financial services provider reported $0.40 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.36 by $0.04. The business had revenue of $33.63 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $37.95 million. Ellington Financial had a net margin of 106.40% and a return on equity of 10.26%. During the same period last year, the business posted $0.33 EPS. As a group, research analysts anticipate that Ellington Financial Inc. will post 1.38 EPS for the current year.

Ellington Financial Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a monthly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, February 25th. Investors of record on Friday, January 31st will be paid a $0.13 dividend. This represents a $1.56 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 12.44%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, January 31st. Ellington Financial’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 119.08%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of brokerages have recently commented on EFC. B. Riley upgraded Ellington Financial to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, January 7th. JMP Securities restated a “market outperform” rating and issued a $14.00 target price on shares of Ellington Financial in a research note on Thursday, January 23rd. Two investment 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. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $13.58.

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.