Amundi Takes Position in Ellington Financial Inc. $EFC

Amundi acquired a new stake in shares of Ellington Financial Inc. (NYSE:EFC) in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm acquired 490,704 shares of the financial services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $6,418,000. Amundi owned approximately 0.52% of Ellington Financial as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its position in shares of Ellington Financial by 3.0% during the first quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 5,899,538 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $78,228,000 after purchasing an additional 171,445 shares in the last quarter. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. grew its position in shares of Ellington Financial by 4.8% during the fourth quarter. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. now owns 1,470,054 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $17,817,000 after purchasing an additional 67,807 shares in the last quarter. Northern Trust Corp grew its position in shares of Ellington Financial by 2.1% during the first quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 1,115,881 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $14,797,000 after purchasing an additional 22,979 shares in the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. grew its position in shares of Ellington Financial by 1.3% during the first quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 831,884 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $11,031,000 after purchasing an additional 10,860 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Bank of New York Mellon Corp grew its position in shares of Ellington Financial by 4.5% during the first quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 671,272 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $8,901,000 after purchasing an additional 29,188 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 55.62% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research analysts recently commented on EFC shares. Zacks Research upgraded Ellington Financial to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, August 12th. UBS Group lifted their price target on Ellington Financial from $12.50 to $13.50 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Wednesday, September 3rd. B. Riley lifted their price target on Ellington Financial from $15.00 to $16.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, May 15th. Piper Sandler dropped their price target on Ellington Financial from $15.00 to $14.50 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, July 1st. Finally, Jones Trading upgraded Ellington Financial from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $14.25 price target for the company in a research report on Wednesday, August 13th. One research 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’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Ellington Financial currently has a consensus rating of “Buy” and an average price target of $14.46.

Ellington Financial Stock Performance

Ellington Financial stock opened at $13.60 on Thursday. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $13.37 and a 200-day moving average price of $13.06. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 10.96, a quick ratio of 46.78 and a current ratio of 46.78. Ellington Financial Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $11.12 and a fifty-two week high of $14.40. The company has a market capitalization of $1.36 billion, a PE ratio of 10.96 and a beta of 1.00.

Ellington Financial (NYSE:EFC) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, August 7th. The financial services provider reported $0.47 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate 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 during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $112.48 million. As a group, equities analysts forecast that Ellington Financial Inc. will post 1.38 earnings per share for the current year.

Ellington Financial Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a sep 25 dividend, which will be paid on Friday, October 31st. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, September 30th will be paid a dividend of $0.13 per share. This represents a dividend yield of 1,140.0%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, September 30th. Ellington Financial’s payout ratio is currently 125.81%.

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.