Ellington Financial (NYSE:EFC) Research Coverage Started at Jonestrading

Equities researchers at Jonestrading began coverage on shares of Ellington Financial (NYSE:EFC) in a research note issued on Friday, Benzinga reports. The brokerage set a “hold” rating on the financial services provider’s stock.

Several other equities research analysts have also commented on EFC. JMP Securities reaffirmed a “market outperform” rating and set a $14.50 price target on shares of Ellington Financial in a research report on Thursday. BTIG Research reduced their price target on shares of Ellington Financial from $15.50 to $13.50 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday. StockNews.com lowered shares of Ellington Financial from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research report on Wednesday. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods reduced their price target on shares of Ellington Financial from $14.00 to $13.25 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, February 28th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have assigned a hold rating and four have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $13.95.

Ellington Financial Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:EFC opened at $11.42 on Friday. Ellington Financial has a fifty-two week low of $10.88 and a fifty-two week high of $14.21. The business has a 50-day simple moving average of $11.53 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $12.26. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 11.30, a quick ratio of 46.75 and a current ratio of 46.75. The firm has a market cap of $971.39 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of 12.69 and a beta of 1.92.

Ellington Financial (NYSE:EFC) last issued its earnings results on Monday, February 26th. The financial services provider reported $0.40 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.41 by ($0.01). Ellington Financial had a return on equity of 11.36% and a net margin of 78.53%. The business had revenue of $27.99 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $30.77 million. During the same period last year, the firm posted $0.42 EPS. On average, analysts expect that Ellington Financial will post 1.53 earnings per share for the current year.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Ellington Financial

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in EFC. BlackRock Inc. increased its holdings in Ellington Financial by 8.6% in the 1st quarter. BlackRock Inc. now owns 11,559,525 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $141,142,000 after acquiring an additional 918,081 shares in the last quarter. UBS Group AG increased its holdings in Ellington Financial by 509.5% in the 4th quarter. UBS Group AG now owns 774,816 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $9,848,000 after acquiring an additional 647,700 shares in the last quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its holdings in Ellington Financial by 13.4% in the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 4,833,357 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $61,432,000 after acquiring an additional 569,935 shares in the last quarter. Balyasny Asset Management L.P. purchased a new stake in Ellington Financial in the 1st quarter worth approximately $4,465,000. Finally, Invesco Ltd. increased its holdings in Ellington Financial by 32.2% in the 3rd quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 1,388,380 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $17,313,000 after acquiring an additional 338,434 shares in the last quarter. 55.62% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.