Bank of New York Mellon Corp Increases Holdings in Ellington Financial Inc. $EFC

Bank of New York Mellon Corp increased its stake in Ellington Financial Inc. (NYSE:EFC) by 6.9% in the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 717,560 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 46,288 shares during the period. Bank of New York Mellon Corp owned approximately 0.76% of Ellington Financial worth $9,321,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other large investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in EFC. Bank of Montreal Can lifted its stake in shares of Ellington Financial by 6.2% in the 2nd quarter. Bank of Montreal Can now owns 15,170 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $197,000 after purchasing an additional 888 shares during the last quarter. Strategic Financial Concepts LLC raised its holdings in Ellington Financial by 8.9% during the 2nd quarter. Strategic Financial Concepts LLC now owns 18,400 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $239,000 after buying an additional 1,500 shares during the period. Amalgamated Bank raised its holdings in Ellington Financial by 3.5% during the 2nd quarter. Amalgamated Bank now owns 26,688 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $347,000 after buying an additional 897 shares during the period. Teacher Retirement System of Texas lifted its position in Ellington Financial by 15.1% in the second quarter. Teacher Retirement System of Texas now owns 15,368 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $200,000 after buying an additional 2,017 shares during the last quarter. Finally, AlphaQuest LLC boosted its stake in Ellington Financial by 1,353.0% during the second quarter. AlphaQuest LLC now owns 48,560 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $631,000 after buying an additional 45,218 shares during the period. 55.62% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Ellington Financial Trading Up 0.2%

Shares of NYSE EFC opened at $13.67 on Friday. Ellington Financial Inc. has a twelve month low of $11.12 and a twelve month high of $14.40. The firm has a market cap of $1.47 billion, a PE ratio of 11.02 and a beta of 1.01. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $13.43 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $13.24. The company has a quick ratio of 46.78, a current ratio of 46.78 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 10.96.

Ellington Financial (NYSE:EFC) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, November 5th. The financial services provider reported $0.53 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.44 by $0.09. The business had revenue of $242.08 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $121.99 million. Ellington Financial had a return on equity of 13.56% and a net margin of 89.52%. Analysts expect that Ellington Financial Inc. will post 1.38 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Ellington Financial Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a monthly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, December 31st. Shareholders of record on Friday, November 28th will be issued a dividend of $0.13 per share. This represents a c) annualized dividend and a yield of 11.4%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, November 28th. Ellington Financial’s dividend payout ratio is presently 116.42%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Ellington Financial news, Director Ronald I. Simon purchased 5,544 shares of Ellington Financial stock in a transaction dated Thursday, September 11th. The stock was acquired at an average price of $13.56 per share, for a total transaction of $75,176.64. Following the acquisition, the director owned 80,000 shares in the company, valued at $1,084,800. This trade represents a 7.45% increase in their position. The purchase was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Company insiders own 4.10% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities research analysts have recently weighed in on the stock. 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 note on Wednesday, August 13th. Weiss Ratings reiterated a “hold (c)” rating on shares of Ellington Financial in a report on Wednesday, October 8th. UBS Group raised their price objective on shares of Ellington Financial from $12.50 to $13.50 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Wednesday, September 3rd. Finally, Zacks Research lowered Ellington Financial from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, October 10th. Five equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and three have assigned a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $14.46.

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.