Ellington Financial (NYSE:EFC) Shares Pass Above 200 Day Moving Average – Here’s What Happened

Ellington Financial Inc. (NYSE:EFC) crossed above its two hundred day moving average during trading on Monday . The stock has a two hundred day moving average of $13.10 and traded as high as $13.55. Ellington Financial shares last traded at $13.4250, with a volume of 964,486 shares traded.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several analysts have issued reports on EFC shares. Weiss Ratings raised shares of Ellington Financial from a “hold (c-)” rating to a “hold (c)” rating in a research report on Thursday, May 14th. Zacks Research raised shares of Ellington Financial from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, May 13th. Finally, Wall Street Zen raised shares of Ellington Financial from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Saturday, May 9th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, two have assigned a Buy rating and two have assigned a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $14.08.

Ellington Financial Price Performance

The company has a market capitalization of $1.68 billion, a P/E ratio of 8.09 and a beta of 0.94. The company’s 50-day moving average price is $12.84 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $13.10. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 10.18, a current ratio of 42.65 and a quick ratio of 42.65.

Ellington Financial (NYSE:EFC) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, May 5th. The financial services provider reported $0.55 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.42 by $0.13. Ellington Financial had a net margin of 72.08% and a return on equity of 15.81%. The company had revenue of $188.83 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $114.09 million. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that Ellington Financial Inc. will post 1.95 EPS for the current year.

Ellington Financial Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a monthly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, June 30th. Investors of record on Friday, May 29th will be paid a $0.13 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Friday, May 29th. This represents a c) annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 11.6%. Ellington Financial’s dividend payout ratio is 93.98%.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Ellington Financial

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of EFC. Amundi grew its stake in shares of Ellington Financial by 106.8% in the fourth quarter. Amundi now owns 1,497,373 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $20,334,000 after acquiring an additional 773,291 shares in the last quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its stake in shares of Ellington Financial by 7.2% in the third quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 6,653,590 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $86,364,000 after acquiring an additional 449,074 shares in the last quarter. Hudson Bay Capital Management LP acquired a new position in shares of Ellington Financial in the fourth quarter valued at about $6,080,000. First Trust Advisors LP grew its stake in shares of Ellington Financial by 263.7% in the first quarter. First Trust Advisors LP now owns 593,740 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $7,036,000 after acquiring an additional 430,477 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Dana Investment Advisors Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Ellington Financial in the third quarter valued at about $4,997,000. 55.62% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

About Ellington Financial

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.