Principal Financial Group Inc. Decreases Stake in Ellington Financial Inc. (NYSE:EFC)

Principal Financial Group Inc. cut its position in Ellington Financial Inc. (NYSE:EFC) by 2.3% during the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 409,475 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 9,774 shares during the period. Principal Financial Group Inc. owned 0.48% of Ellington Financial worth $5,278,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of EFC. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its holdings in Ellington Financial by 1.0% in the first quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 4,879,336 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $57,625,000 after buying an additional 45,979 shares during the last quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp boosted its position in shares of Ellington Financial by 32.3% in the 2nd quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp now owns 751,997 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $9,084,000 after purchasing an additional 183,544 shares during the period. Harbor Capital Advisors Inc. grew its stake in Ellington Financial by 146.5% during the 3rd quarter. Harbor Capital Advisors Inc. now owns 726,779 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $9,368,000 after buying an additional 431,945 shares during the last quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp increased its position in Ellington Financial by 4.4% during the second quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 654,024 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $7,901,000 after buying an additional 27,392 shares during the period. Finally, Strategic Financial Concepts LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Ellington Financial by 1,667.2% in the second quarter. Strategic Financial Concepts LLC now owns 282,746 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $34,000 after acquiring an additional 266,746 shares during the period. 55.62% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Buying and Selling at Ellington Financial

In other Ellington Financial news, CIO Michael W. Vranos sold 14,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, October 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $12.48, for a total value of $174,720.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive now directly owns 168,359 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,101,120.32. This trade represents a 7.68 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. 4.40% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Separately, JMP Securities reduced their price target on shares of Ellington Financial from $14.50 to $14.00 and set a “market outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, July 24th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, Ellington Financial has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $13.56.

Ellington Financial Stock Performance

NYSE:EFC opened at $12.30 on Thursday. The firm has a market cap of $1.11 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 9.39 and a beta of 1.99. The firm’s fifty day moving average price is $12.60 and its 200 day moving average price is $12.53. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 10.87, a current ratio of 37.04 and a quick ratio of 37.04. Ellington Financial Inc. has a 1-year low of $10.88 and a 1-year high of $13.46.

Ellington Financial (NYSE:EFC) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, November 6th. The financial services provider reported $0.40 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.36 by $0.04. The company had revenue of $33.63 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $37.95 million. Ellington Financial had a return on equity of 10.26% and a net margin of 106.40%. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned $0.33 EPS. On average, sell-side analysts expect that Ellington Financial Inc. will post 1.37 EPS for the current year.

Ellington Financial Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a monthly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, December 26th. Shareholders of record on Friday, November 29th will be given a $0.13 dividend. This represents a $1.56 annualized dividend and a yield of 12.69%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, November 29th. Ellington Financial’s payout ratio is 119.08%.

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.