Ellington Financial Inc. (EFC) To Go Ex-Dividend on March 31st

Ellington Financial Inc. (NYSE:EFC) announced a mar 25 dividend on Friday, March 7th, RTT News reports. Stockholders of record on Monday, March 31st will be given a dividend of 0.13 per share by the financial services provider on Friday, April 25th. This represents a dividend yield of 11.7%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, March 31st.

Ellington Financial has increased its dividend by an average of 2.6% annually over the last three years. Ellington Financial has a dividend payout ratio of 91.8% indicating that its dividend is currently covered by earnings, but may not be in the future if the company’s earnings tumble. Equities research analysts expect Ellington Financial to earn $1.67 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 93.4%.

Ellington Financial Stock Performance

NYSE:EFC opened at $13.27 on Friday. The firm has a market capitalization of $1.20 billion, a PE ratio of 10.13 and a beta of 1.99. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 10.87, a current ratio of 37.04 and a quick ratio of 37.04. The business’s fifty day moving average price is $13.07 and its 200 day moving average price is $12.67. Ellington Financial has a 12 month low of $10.88 and a 12 month high of $14.40.

Ellington Financial (NYSE:EFC) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, February 27th. The financial services provider reported $0.45 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.38 by $0.07. The business had revenue of $38.13 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $112.88 million. Ellington Financial had a return on equity of 10.26% and a net margin of 106.40%. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that Ellington Financial will post 1.38 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several analysts have recently weighed in on EFC shares. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods boosted their price objective on shares of Ellington Financial from $13.75 to $14.50 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Monday, March 3rd. JMP Securities restated a “market outperform” rating and issued a $14.00 price objective on shares of Ellington Financial in a research note on Thursday, January 23rd. Finally, B. Riley raised Ellington Financial to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, January 7th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, three have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $14.00.

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.