297,201 Shares in Ellington Financial Inc. $EFC Purchased by Nuveen LLC

Nuveen LLC purchased a new position in Ellington Financial Inc. (NYSE:EFC) during the first quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund purchased 297,201 shares of the financial services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $3,941,000. Nuveen LLC owned about 0.31% of Ellington Financial as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in EFC. State of Wyoming purchased a new position in shares of Ellington Financial in the 4th quarter worth about $56,000. GAMMA Investing LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Ellington Financial by 243.8% in the 1st 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 during the last quarter. Versant Capital Management Inc boosted its holdings in shares of Ellington Financial by 1,824.5% in the 1st 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 during the last quarter. Mariner LLC purchased a new position in shares of Ellington Financial in the 4th quarter worth about $143,000. Finally, Cetera Investment Advisers boosted its holdings in shares of Ellington Financial by 18.2% in the 4th quarter. Cetera Investment Advisers now owns 11,920 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $144,000 after buying an additional 1,836 shares during the last quarter. 55.62% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities analysts recently weighed in on EFC shares. Zacks Research raised shares of Ellington Financial to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, August 12th. B. Riley upped their price objective on shares of Ellington Financial from $15.00 to $16.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, May 15th. UBS Group upped their price objective on shares of Ellington Financial from $12.00 to $12.50 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Thursday, July 10th. Jones Trading raised shares of Ellington Financial from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $14.25 price objective on the stock in a report on Wednesday, August 13th. Finally, Piper Sandler dropped their price objective on shares of Ellington Financial from $15.00 to $14.50 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, July 1st. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, five have issued a Buy rating and one has issued a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, Ellington Financial presently has an average rating of “Buy” and an average target price of $14.29.

Ellington Financial Trading Down 0.6%

Shares of Ellington Financial stock opened at $13.80 on Thursday. Ellington Financial Inc. has a 12-month low of $11.12 and a 12-month high of $14.40. The company has a market cap of $1.38 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 11.13 and a beta of 1.00. The company has a current ratio of 46.78, a quick ratio of 46.78 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 10.96. The company’s 50-day moving average price is $13.23 and its 200-day moving average price is $13.00.

Ellington Financial (NYSE:EFC) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, August 7th. The financial services provider reported $0.47 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.40 by $0.07. Ellington Financial had a net margin of 89.52% and a return on equity of 13.56%. The firm had revenue of $92.54 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $112.48 million. On average, equities analysts expect that Ellington Financial Inc. will post 1.38 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Ellington Financial Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a monthly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, September 30th. Stockholders of record on Friday, August 29th will be issued a $0.13 dividend. This represents a c) dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 11.3%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, August 29th. Ellington Financial’s dividend payout ratio is presently 125.81%.

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.