State of Alaska Department of Revenue Sells 1,290 Shares of Ellington Financial Inc. (NYSE:EFC)

State of Alaska Department of Revenue trimmed its holdings in shares of Ellington Financial Inc. (NYSE:EFC) by 2.5% during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 50,235 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 1,290 shares during the quarter. State of Alaska Department of Revenue owned about 0.06% of Ellington Financial worth $666,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

A number of other hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the business. GraniteShares Advisors LLC grew its stake in Ellington Financial by 6.5% during the first quarter. GraniteShares Advisors LLC now owns 216,284 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $2,868,000 after buying an additional 13,110 shares in the last quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC grew its stake in Ellington Financial by 243.8% during the first quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 4,800 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $64,000 after buying an additional 3,404 shares in the last quarter. CenterStar Asset Management LLC grew its stake in Ellington Financial by 14.6% during the first quarter. CenterStar Asset Management LLC now owns 12,828 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $170,000 after buying an additional 1,638 shares in the last quarter. Versant Capital Management Inc grew its stake in Ellington Financial by 1,824.5% during the first quarter. Versant Capital Management Inc now owns 5,581 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $74,000 after buying an additional 5,291 shares in the last quarter. Finally, California State Teachers Retirement System grew its stake in Ellington Financial by 1.1% during the fourth quarter. California State Teachers Retirement System now owns 81,097 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $983,000 after buying an additional 873 shares in the last quarter. 55.62% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Ellington Financial Stock Down 1.0%

NYSE:EFC opened at $13.01 on Friday. The firm’s 50 day simple moving average is $12.84 and its 200 day simple moving average is $12.73. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 11.11, a current ratio of 42.26 and a quick ratio of 42.26. Ellington Financial Inc. has a one year low of $11.12 and a one year high of $14.40. The company has a market cap of $1.23 billion, a PE ratio of 9.22 and a beta of 0.99.

Ellington Financial (NYSE:EFC) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, May 7th. The financial services provider reported $0.39 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.38 by $0.01. Ellington Financial had a net margin of 101.59% and a return on equity of 12.06%. The firm had revenue of $82.91 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $107.06 million. On average, research analysts anticipate that Ellington Financial Inc. will post 1.38 earnings per share for the current year.

Ellington Financial Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a monthly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, July 31st. Shareholders of record on Monday, June 30th will be issued a dividend of $0.13 per share. The ex-dividend date is Monday, June 30th. This represents a $1.56 annualized dividend and a yield of 12.00%. Ellington Financial’s payout ratio is 110.64%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

EFC has been the topic of a number of research analyst reports. UBS Group restated a “neutral” rating on shares of Ellington Financial in a research note on Wednesday, May 14th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods raised their price target on shares of Ellington Financial from $13.75 to $14.50 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Monday, March 3rd. Finally, B. Riley raised their price target on shares of Ellington Financial from $15.00 to $16.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, May 15th.

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.