Ellington Financial Inc. (EFC) to Issue Monthly Dividend of $0.13 on May 27th

Ellington Financial Inc. (NYSE:EFC) announced a monthly dividend on Friday, April 4th, Wall Street Journal reports. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, April 30th will be given a dividend of 0.13 per share by the financial services provider on Tuesday, May 27th. This represents a $1.56 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 12.56%. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, April 30th.

Ellington Financial has increased its dividend payment by an average of 2.6% annually over the last three years. Ellington Financial has a payout ratio of 91.8% meaning its dividend is currently covered by earnings, but may not be in the future if the company’s earnings decline. Equities 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 Trading Down 5.0 %

NYSE EFC opened at $12.42 on Friday. Ellington Financial has a 1 year low of $10.88 and a 1 year high of $14.40. 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 $1.13 billion, a PE ratio of 9.48 and a beta of 1.99. The company has a fifty day moving average of $13.12 and a 200 day moving average of $12.66.

Ellington Financial (NYSE:EFC) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 27th. The financial services provider reported $0.45 earnings per share 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 during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $112.88 million. Research analysts forecast that Ellington Financial will post 1.38 earnings per share for the current year.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

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

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.