Ellington Financial (NYSE:EFC) Stock Crosses Above Two Hundred Day Moving Average – Time to Sell?

Shares of Ellington Financial Inc. (NYSE:EFC) crossed above its two hundred day moving average during trading on Wednesday . The stock has a two hundred day moving average of $13.05 and traded as high as $13.52. Ellington Financial shares last traded at $13.4550, with a volume of 770,066 shares.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

EFC has been the subject of a number of research reports. Zacks Research downgraded shares of Ellington Financial from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Monday, July 13th. BTIG Research downgraded shares of Ellington Financial from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating in a report on Wednesday, June 17th. 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. 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 equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Buy rating and four have assigned a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Ellington Financial currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $13.88.

Ellington Financial Price Performance

The company has a market cap of $1.69 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 8.11 and a beta of 0.93. The company has a fifty day moving average price of $13.53 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $13.05. The company has a current ratio of 42.65, a quick ratio of 42.65 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 10.18.

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

Ellington Financial Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a monthly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, August 31st. Shareholders of record on Friday, July 31st will be issued a $0.13 dividend. This represents a c) annualized dividend and a yield of 11.6%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, July 31st. Ellington Financial’s payout ratio is 93.98%.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Ellington Financial

Hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the business. Amundi lifted its holdings in shares of Ellington Financial by 106.8% during the 4th quarter. Amundi now owns 1,497,373 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $20,334,000 after acquiring an additional 773,291 shares during the period. Hudson Bay Capital Management LP bought a new stake in Ellington Financial in the fourth quarter valued at about $6,080,000. First Trust Advisors LP increased its stake in 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 during the period. Millennium Management LLC acquired a new position in Ellington Financial in the third quarter worth about $4,941,000. Finally, Bank of America Corp DE raised its position in Ellington Financial by 234.3% in the first quarter. Bank of America Corp DE now owns 537,199 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $6,366,000 after purchasing an additional 376,528 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 55.62% of the company’s stock.

Ellington Financial Company 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.