Analysts Set Ellington Financial Inc. (NYSE:EFC) Price Target at $13.88

Ellington Financial Inc. (NYSE:EFC) has been assigned an average rating of “Hold” from the five analysts that are presently covering the stock, MarketBeat Ratings reports. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and one has issued a buy rating on the company. The average 12 month price target among brokers that have covered the stock in the last year is $13.8750.

Several equities research analysts recently commented on the stock. BTIG Research downgraded shares of Ellington Financial from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating in a research report on Wednesday, June 17th. Zacks Research downgraded shares of Ellington Financial from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Monday, July 13th. Weiss Ratings upgraded Ellington Financial from a “hold (c-)” rating to a “hold (c)” rating in a report on Thursday, May 14th. Finally, Wall Street Zen upgraded Ellington Financial from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Saturday, May 9th.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Ellington Financial

Institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the business. Hennion & Walsh Asset Management Inc. grew its stake in Ellington Financial by 22.1% during the 2nd quarter. Hennion & Walsh Asset Management Inc. now owns 184,353 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $2,509,000 after acquiring an additional 33,371 shares in the last quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC lifted its position in shares of Ellington Financial by 18.3% in the second quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 5,071 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $69,000 after purchasing an additional 785 shares in the last quarter. Alpine Woods Capital Investors LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Ellington Financial in the first quarter worth approximately $226,000. Bank of America Corp DE boosted its holdings in shares of Ellington Financial by 234.3% during the first quarter. Bank of America Corp DE now owns 537,199 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $6,366,000 after purchasing an additional 376,528 shares during the period. Finally, California State Teachers Retirement System boosted its holdings in shares of Ellington Financial by 92.5% during the first quarter. California State Teachers Retirement System now owns 154,243 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $1,828,000 after purchasing an additional 74,135 shares during the period. 55.62% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Ellington Financial Price Performance

EFC stock opened at $13.29 on Wednesday. The company has a current ratio of 42.65, a quick ratio of 42.65 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 10.18. Ellington Financial has a one year low of $11.27 and a one year high of $14.12. The firm has a market capitalization of $1.67 billion, a PE ratio of 8.00 and a beta of 0.93. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $13.52 and a two-hundred day moving average of $13.04.

Ellington Financial (NYSE:EFC) last announced its earnings results on Tuesday, May 5th. The financial services provider reported $0.55 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.42 by $0.13. The company had revenue of $188.83 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $114.09 million. Ellington Financial had a net margin of 72.08% and a return on equity of 15.81%. On average, analysts forecast that Ellington Financial will post 1.95 earnings per share for the current year.

Ellington Financial Announces Dividend

The firm 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. This represents a c) annualized dividend and a yield of 11.7%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, July 31st. Ellington Financial’s payout ratio is presently 93.98%.

About Ellington Financial

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.