Vanguard Group Inc. Acquires 349,448 Shares of Ellington Financial Inc. $EFC

Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Ellington Financial Inc. (NYSE:EFC) by 5.3% in the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The firm owned 7,003,038 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 349,448 shares during the quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. owned about 0.06% of Ellington Financial worth $95,101,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of EFC. Daytona Street Capital LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Ellington Financial during the fourth quarter worth approximately $34,000. Danske Bank A S acquired a new stake in shares of Ellington Financial during the third quarter worth approximately $44,000. Hantz Financial Services Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Ellington Financial by 535.9% during the third quarter. Hantz Financial Services Inc. now owns 6,181 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $80,000 after buying an additional 5,209 shares in the last quarter. Tower Research Capital LLC TRC increased its holdings in shares of Ellington Financial by 227.6% during the second quarter. Tower Research Capital LLC TRC now owns 6,853 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $89,000 after buying an additional 4,761 shares in the last quarter. Finally, CWM LLC increased its holdings in shares of Ellington Financial by 292.1% during the third quarter. CWM LLC now owns 7,881 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $102,000 after buying an additional 5,871 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 55.62% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

EFC has been the subject of a number of research reports. Weiss Ratings reissued a “hold (c)” rating on shares of Ellington Financial in a report on Wednesday, January 21st. Wall Street Zen raised shares of Ellington Financial from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Saturday, May 9th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and three have assigned a Hold rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $14.56.

Ellington Financial Trading Down 0.5%

Shares of NYSE EFC opened at $13.41 on Thursday. The company’s fifty day moving average is $12.45 and its 200-day moving average is $13.10. The stock has a market cap of $1.68 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 8.08 and a beta of 0.94. Ellington Financial Inc. has a twelve month low of $11.27 and a twelve month high of $14.12. The company has a quick ratio of 47.25, a current ratio of 42.65 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 10.18.

Ellington Financial (NYSE:EFC) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, May 5th. The financial services provider reported $0.55 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.42 by $0.13. The company had revenue of $188.83 million for 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%. Equities research analysts predict that Ellington Financial Inc. will post 1.92 EPS for the current year.

Ellington Financial Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a monthly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, June 30th. Stockholders of record on Friday, May 29th will be given a dividend of $0.13 per share. This represents a c) dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 11.6%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, May 29th. 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.