Ellington Financial Inc. (NYSE:EFC) to Issue Monthly Dividend of $0.13

Ellington Financial Inc. (NYSE:EFC) announced a monthly dividend on Friday, December 6th,NASDAQ Dividends reports. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, December 31st will be paid a dividend of 0.13 per share by the financial services provider on Monday, January 27th. This represents a $1.56 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 12.71%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, December 31st.

Ellington Financial has increased its dividend payment by an average of 12.7% per year over the last three years. Ellington Financial has a dividend payout ratio of 96.3% meaning its dividend is currently covered by earnings, but may not be in the future if the company’s earnings fall. Equities research analysts expect Ellington Financial to earn $1.67 per share next year, which means the company should continue to be able to cover its $1.56 annual dividend with an expected future payout ratio of 93.4%.

Ellington Financial Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE EFC traded up $0.11 during midday trading on Friday, hitting $12.27. 624,644 shares of the company’s stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 751,516. Ellington Financial has a twelve month low of $10.88 and a twelve month high of $13.46. 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 firm has a market cap of $1.11 billion, a P/E ratio of 9.37 and a beta of 1.97. The stock’s 50 day moving average price is $12.41 and its 200-day moving average price is $12.56.

Ellington Financial (NYSE:EFC) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, November 6th. The financial services provider reported $0.40 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.36 by $0.04. The company had revenue of $33.63 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $37.95 million. Ellington Financial had a return on equity of 10.26% and a net margin of 106.40%. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $0.33 EPS. Equities research analysts anticipate that Ellington Financial will post 1.37 EPS for the current year.

Insider Activity at Ellington Financial

In other news, CIO Michael W. Vranos sold 14,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Monday, October 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $12.48, for a total value of $174,720.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive now owns 168,359 shares in the company, valued at $2,101,120.32. This represents a 7.68 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. 4.40% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

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.