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

Ellington Financial Inc. (NYSE:EFC) declared a monthly dividend on Monday, July 8th, NASDAQ reports. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, July 31st will be paid a dividend of 0.13 per share by the financial services provider on Monday, August 26th. This represents a $1.56 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 12.16%. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, July 31st.

Ellington Financial has raised its dividend payment by an average of 12.7% per year over the last three years. Ellington Financial has a payout ratio of 95.7% indicating that its dividend is currently covered by earnings, but may not be in the future if the company’s earnings tumble. Analysts expect Ellington Financial to earn $1.70 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 91.8%.

Ellington Financial Price Performance

Shares of EFC stock opened at $12.83 on Tuesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 10.99, a current ratio of 46.79 and a quick ratio of 46.79. The company has a market capitalization of $1.09 billion, a P/E ratio of 20.04 and a beta of 1.98. The company’s 50-day simple moving average is $12.32 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $11.99. Ellington Financial has a one year low of $10.88 and a one year high of $13.69.

Ellington Financial (NYSE:EFC) last issued its earnings results on Tuesday, May 7th. The financial services provider reported $0.28 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.35 by ($0.07). The company had revenue of $31.06 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $26.68 million. Ellington Financial had a return on equity of 10.51% and a net margin of 66.65%. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that Ellington Financial will post 1.46 EPS for the current year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Ellington Financial news, CIO Michael W. Vranos sold 5,900 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, July 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $12.12, for a total value of $71,508.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive now owns 179,655 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,177,418.60. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. In related news, CIO Michael W. Vranos sold 5,900 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, July 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $12.12, for a total transaction of $71,508.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive now owns 179,655 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,177,418.60. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, CIO Michael W. Vranos sold 8,300 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Monday, June 17th. The stock was sold at an average price of $12.15, for a total transaction of $100,845.00. Following the transaction, the executive now directly owns 160,874 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,954,619.10. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders sold 22,500 shares of company stock valued at $272,866. Insiders own 4.40% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research firms have recently issued reports on EFC. Jonestrading began coverage on shares of Ellington Financial in a research note on Friday, April 19th. They set a “hold” rating on the stock. BTIG Research dropped their price objective on shares of Ellington Financial from $15.50 to $13.50 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, April 18th. StockNews.com upgraded shares of Ellington Financial from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Thursday, May 2nd. Finally, JMP Securities lowered their target price on shares of Ellington Financial from $14.50 to $14.00 and set a “market outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, July 24th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and four have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $13.85.

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.