BlackRock Inc. Invests $284.14 Million in Ellington Financial Inc. $EFC

BlackRock Inc. acquired a new position in Ellington Financial Inc. (NYSE:EFC) during the second quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The institutional investor acquired 20,877,584 shares of the financial services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $284,144,000. BlackRock Inc. owned about 0.17% of Ellington Financial as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its position in Ellington Financial by 5.3% in the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 7,003,038 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $95,101,000 after purchasing an additional 349,448 shares during the last quarter. State Street Corp raised its holdings in shares of Ellington Financial by 5.5% during the fourth quarter. State Street Corp now owns 3,779,402 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $51,814,000 after buying an additional 196,894 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC raised its holdings in shares of Ellington Financial by 6.3% during the fourth quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 2,412,329 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $32,766,000 after buying an additional 142,912 shares during the last quarter. Invesco Ltd. boosted its position in shares of Ellington Financial by 17.6% during the third quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 2,218,506 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $28,796,000 after buying an additional 331,934 shares during the period. Finally, MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. boosted its position in shares of Ellington Financial by 7.0% during the third quarter. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. now owns 1,566,268 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $20,330,000 after buying an additional 102,957 shares during the period. 55.62% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

EFC has been the topic of several analyst reports. UBS Group raised their target price on Ellington Financial from $14.00 to $14.50 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Wednesday, August 19th. Wall Street Zen raised Ellington Financial from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Saturday, May 9th. BTIG Research cut shares of Ellington Financial from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating in a research note on Wednesday, June 17th. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “hold (c)” rating on shares of Ellington Financial in a report on Tuesday, August 11th. Finally, Zacks Research lowered shares of Ellington Financial from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Monday, July 13th. Four analysts have rated the stock with a Hold rating, According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $14.50.

Ellington Financial Trading Down 1.0%

NYSE:EFC opened at $13.45 on Thursday. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $13.51 and a 200 day simple moving average of $13.04. The firm has a market capitalization of $1.73 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 8.20 and a beta of 0.94. The company has a quick ratio of 52.06, a current ratio of 52.06 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 10.39. Ellington Financial Inc. has a 1-year low of $11.27 and a 1-year high of $14.12.

Ellington Financial (NYSE:EFC) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, August 6th. The financial services provider reported $0.60 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.46 by $0.14. The company had revenue of $134.11 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $114.59 million. Ellington Financial had a net margin of 52.43% and a return on equity of 16.61%. Sell-side analysts forecast that Ellington Financial Inc. will post 2.13 earnings per share for the current year.

Ellington Financial Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a monthly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, September 30th. Investors of record on Monday, August 31st will be given a dividend of $0.13 per share. This represents a c) annualized dividend and a yield of 11.6%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, August 31st. Ellington Financial’s payout ratio is presently 95.12%.

Ellington Financial 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.