Principal Financial Group Inc. Has $7.18 Million Position in Ellington Financial Inc. $EFC

Principal Financial Group Inc. grew its position in Ellington Financial Inc. (NYSE:EFC) by 18.5% in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 605,681 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 94,625 shares during the period. Principal Financial Group Inc. owned about 0.49% of Ellington Financial worth $7,177,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. Amundi lifted its stake in Ellington Financial by 106.8% in the 4th quarter. Amundi now owns 1,497,373 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $20,334,000 after purchasing an additional 773,291 shares during the last quarter. Hudson Bay Capital Management LP acquired a new position in Ellington Financial during the fourth quarter worth approximately $6,080,000. Millennium Management LLC acquired a new position in Ellington Financial during the third quarter worth approximately $4,941,000. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its stake in Ellington Financial by 5.3% in the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 7,003,038 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $95,101,000 after buying an additional 349,448 shares during the period. Finally, Invesco Ltd. raised its stake in Ellington Financial by 17.6% in the third quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 2,218,506 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $28,796,000 after buying an additional 331,934 shares during the period. 55.62% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Ratings Changes

EFC has been the subject of several research analyst reports. Weiss Ratings upgraded Ellington Financial from a “hold (c-)” rating to a “hold (c)” rating in a research note on Thursday, May 14th. BTIG Research cut Ellington Financial from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating in a research note on Wednesday, June 17th. Zacks Research downgraded Ellington Financial from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Monday, July 13th. Finally, Wall Street Zen raised Ellington Financial from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Saturday, May 9th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Buy rating and four have assigned a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $13.88.

Ellington Financial Stock Performance

EFC opened at $13.37 on Tuesday. Ellington Financial Inc. has a twelve month low of $11.27 and a twelve month high of $14.12. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $13.52 and a 200 day simple moving average of $13.04. The company has a quick ratio of 42.65, a current ratio of 42.65 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 10.18. The stock has a market capitalization of $1.68 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 8.05 and a beta of 0.93.

Ellington Financial (NYSE:EFC) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, May 5th. The financial services provider reported $0.55 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.42 by $0.13. The firm had revenue of $188.83 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $114.09 million. Ellington Financial had a net margin of 72.08% and a return on equity of 15.81%. Analysts predict that Ellington Financial Inc. will post 1.95 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Ellington Financial Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a monthly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, August 31st. Investors of record on Friday, July 31st will be given a dividend of $0.13 per share. The ex-dividend date is Friday, July 31st. This represents a c) annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 11.7%. Ellington Financial’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 93.98%.

Ellington Financial Company Profile

Ellington Financial, Inc (NYSE: EFC) is a mortgage real estate investment trust (REIT) that focuses on generating attractive risk-adjusted returns through investments in residential and commercial mortgage-related assets. Established in 2013, the company is externally managed by Ellington Financial Management, L.P., a subsidiary of Ellington Management Group, an alternative asset management firm. EFC’s core strategy centers on actively acquiring and managing agency and non-agency residential mortgage-backed securities (MBS), mortgage servicing rights, residential whole loans, and other structured finance instruments, including asset-backed securities and commercial mortgage-backed securities (CMBS).

The company employs leverage and structured financing tools—such as repurchase agreements and secured credit facilities—to enhance portfolio yield while maintaining focus on risk mitigation.