Corient Private Wealth LLC Invests $140,000 in Ellington Financial Inc. (NYSE:EFC)

Corient Private Wealth LLC bought a new position in Ellington Financial Inc. (NYSE:EFC) during the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The fund bought 11,576 shares of the financial services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $140,000.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Oregon Public Employees Retirement Fund grew its stake in Ellington Financial by 4.4% during the 4th quarter. Oregon Public Employees Retirement Fund now owns 21,364 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $259,000 after acquiring an additional 900 shares in the last quarter. Steward Partners Investment Advisory LLC increased its stake in Ellington Financial by 162.3% in the 4th quarter. Steward Partners Investment Advisory LLC now owns 2,602 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $32,000 after buying an additional 1,610 shares during the period. Louisiana State Employees Retirement System increased its stake in Ellington Financial by 4.3% in the 4th quarter. Louisiana State Employees Retirement System now owns 43,800 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $531,000 after buying an additional 1,800 shares during the period. Illinois Municipal Retirement Fund boosted its stake in shares of Ellington Financial by 4.3% during the 4th quarter. Illinois Municipal Retirement Fund now owns 45,842 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $556,000 after buying an additional 1,875 shares during the period. Finally, State of Alaska Department of Revenue grew its holdings in shares of Ellington Financial by 3.9% during the 4th quarter. State of Alaska Department of Revenue now owns 51,525 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $624,000 after acquiring an additional 1,918 shares in the last quarter. 55.62% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Ellington Financial Trading Down 0.1 %

Ellington Financial stock opened at $13.25 on Wednesday. Ellington Financial Inc. has a one year low of $10.88 and a one year high of $14.40. The company’s fifty day moving average price is $13.10 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $12.67. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 10.87, a current ratio of 37.04 and a quick ratio of 37.04. The company has a market capitalization of $1.20 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 10.11 and a beta of 1.99.

Ellington Financial (NYSE:EFC) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 27th. The financial services provider reported $0.45 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.38 by $0.07. Ellington Financial had a return on equity of 10.26% and a net margin of 106.40%. The business had revenue of $38.13 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $112.88 million. On average, analysts forecast that Ellington Financial Inc. will post 1.38 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Ellington Financial Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a mar 25 dividend, which will be paid on Friday, April 25th. Stockholders of record on Monday, March 31st will be given a $0.13 dividend. This represents a dividend yield of 11.7%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, March 31st. Ellington Financial’s dividend payout ratio is 113.04%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several brokerages recently issued reports on EFC. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods increased their price objective on Ellington Financial from $13.75 to $14.50 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Monday, March 3rd. B. Riley raised Ellington Financial to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, January 7th. Finally, JMP Securities restated a “market outperform” rating and issued a $14.00 price objective on shares of Ellington Financial in a report on Thursday, January 23rd. Two analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, three have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $14.00.

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.