Advisors Preferred LLC Purchases Shares of 35,520 Ellington Financial Inc. (NYSE:EFC)

Advisors Preferred LLC acquired a new position in shares of Ellington Financial Inc. (NYSE:EFC) during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm acquired 35,520 shares of the financial services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $432,000.

Several other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. State Street Corp lifted its position in Ellington Financial by 4.1% in the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 3,140,371 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $40,885,000 after purchasing an additional 124,943 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its position in shares of Ellington Financial by 2.4% during the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 1,965,296 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $25,338,000 after acquiring an additional 46,530 shares in the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. boosted its position in shares of Ellington Financial by 5.7% during the 3rd quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 778,931 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $10,040,000 after acquiring an additional 41,669 shares in the last quarter. Harbor Capital Advisors Inc. increased its stake in Ellington Financial by 3.1% in the fourth quarter. Harbor Capital Advisors Inc. now owns 749,307 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $9,082,000 after acquiring an additional 22,528 shares during the period. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised its position in Ellington Financial by 48.0% in the third quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 231,543 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $2,985,000 after purchasing an additional 75,143 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 55.62% of the company’s stock.

Ellington Financial Stock Performance

NYSE:EFC opened at $12.70 on Friday. The stock has a market capitalization of $1.15 billion, a P/E ratio of 9.70 and a beta of 1.97. The company has a current ratio of 37.04, a quick ratio of 37.04 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 10.87. Ellington Financial Inc. has a 1 year low of $10.88 and a 1 year high of $13.46. The firm has a 50 day moving average of $12.34 and a 200-day moving average of $12.59.

Ellington Financial (NYSE:EFC) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, November 6th. The financial services provider reported $0.40 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.36 by $0.04. The firm had revenue of $33.63 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $37.95 million. Ellington Financial had a return on equity of 10.26% and a net margin of 106.40%. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $0.33 EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that Ellington Financial Inc. will post 1.38 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Ellington Financial Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a monthly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, February 25th. Investors of record on Friday, January 31st will be issued a $0.13 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, January 31st. This represents a $1.56 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 12.28%. Ellington Financial’s dividend payout ratio is 119.08%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research firms have recently weighed in on EFC. B. Riley upgraded Ellington Financial to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, January 7th. JMP Securities reiterated a “market outperform” rating and issued a $14.00 price target on shares of Ellington Financial in a research report on Thursday, January 23rd. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, three have issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $13.58.

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.