Rhumbline Advisers Sells 5,001 Shares of Ellington Financial Inc. $EFC

Rhumbline Advisers decreased its stake in shares of Ellington Financial Inc. (NYSE:EFC) by 1.9% in the first quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 253,280 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 5,001 shares during the quarter. Rhumbline Advisers owned approximately 0.27% of Ellington Financial worth $3,358,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in EFC. State of Wyoming purchased a new position in Ellington Financial during the 4th quarter valued at about $56,000. GAMMA Investing LLC lifted its stake in Ellington Financial by 243.8% during the 1st quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 4,800 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $64,000 after acquiring an additional 3,404 shares during the period. Versant Capital Management Inc lifted its stake 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 valued at $74,000 after purchasing an additional 5,291 shares during the period. Russell Investments Group Ltd. lifted its stake in shares of Ellington Financial by 99.4% in the 1st quarter. Russell Investments Group Ltd. now owns 9,918 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $132,000 after purchasing an additional 4,944 shares during the period. Finally, WealthTrust Axiom LLC acquired a new position in shares of Ellington Financial in the 1st quarter valued at $138,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 55.62% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several brokerages recently commented on EFC. UBS Group boosted their price target on shares of Ellington Financial from $12.50 to $13.50 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Wednesday, September 3rd. Jones Trading raised shares of Ellington Financial from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $14.25 target price on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, August 13th. Zacks Research upgraded shares of Ellington Financial to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, August 12th. Finally, Piper Sandler dropped their price target on shares of Ellington Financial from $15.00 to $14.50 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, July 1st. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, five have assigned a Buy rating and one has given a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, Ellington Financial currently has an average rating of “Buy” and an average price target of $14.46.

Ellington Financial Trading Down 0.1%

Ellington Financial stock opened at $13.42 on Tuesday. The stock has a market cap of $1.34 billion, a PE ratio of 10.82 and a beta of 1.00. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $13.39 and a 200 day moving average price of $13.05. Ellington Financial Inc. has a 52 week low of $11.12 and a 52 week high of $14.40. The company has a current ratio of 46.78, a quick ratio of 46.78 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 10.96.

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

Ellington Financial Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a sep 25 dividend, which will be paid on Friday, October 31st. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, September 30th will be paid a $0.13 dividend. 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.