Short Interest in Ellington Financial Inc. (NYSE:EFC) Declines By 19.6%

Ellington Financial Inc. (NYSE:EFC) saw a significant decrease in short interest in the month of January. As of January 15th, there was short interest totalling 4,790,000 shares, a decrease of 19.6% from the December 31st total of 5,960,000 shares. Based on an average daily trading volume, of 876,900 shares, the short-interest ratio is presently 5.5 days.

Institutional Trading of Ellington Financial

Institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Barclays PLC lifted its position in Ellington Financial by 230.3% during the 3rd quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 138,440 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $1,784,000 after acquiring an additional 96,525 shares during the last quarter. State Street Corp increased its position in Ellington Financial by 4.1% during the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 3,140,371 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $40,885,000 after acquiring an additional 124,943 shares during the period. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised its stake in Ellington Financial by 48.0% during the 3rd quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 231,543 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $2,985,000 after purchasing an additional 75,143 shares during the last quarter. Harbor Capital Advisors Inc. boosted its holdings in Ellington Financial by 146.5% in the 3rd quarter. Harbor Capital Advisors Inc. now owns 726,779 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $9,368,000 after purchasing an additional 431,945 shares during the period. Finally, Intech Investment Management LLC bought a new position in shares of Ellington Financial during the 3rd quarter worth about $695,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 55.62% of the company’s stock.

Ellington Financial Stock Down 0.3 %

Shares of Ellington Financial stock opened at $12.56 on Friday. The company has a market capitalization of $1.14 billion, a P/E ratio of 9.58 and a beta of 1.97. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 10.87, a current ratio of 37.04 and a quick ratio of 37.04. Ellington Financial has a 1-year low of $10.88 and a 1-year high of $13.46. The business’s fifty day moving average price is $12.32 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $12.60.

Ellington Financial (NYSE:EFC) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, November 6th. The financial services provider reported $0.40 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.36 by $0.04. The firm had revenue of $33.63 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations 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 earned $0.33 earnings per share. As a group, research analysts forecast that Ellington Financial will post 1.38 EPS for the current year.

Ellington Financial Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a monthly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, February 25th. Shareholders of record on Friday, January 31st will be given 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 yield of 12.43%. Ellington Financial’s payout ratio is 119.08%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of analysts have recently weighed in on EFC shares. B. Riley raised shares of Ellington Financial to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, January 7th. JMP Securities reiterated a “market outperform” rating and set a $14.00 price objective on shares of Ellington Financial in a research note on Thursday, January 23rd. Two analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, three have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $13.58.

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.