Ellington Financial Inc. (NYSE:EFC) Plans Monthly Dividend of $0.13

Ellington Financial Inc. (NYSE:EFC) announced a monthly dividend on Wednesday, January 8th,Wall Street Journal reports. Stockholders of record on Friday, January 31st will be given a dividend of 0.13 per share by the financial services provider on Tuesday, February 25th. This represents a $1.56 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 12.84%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, January 31st.

Ellington Financial has increased its dividend by an average of 2.6% per year over the last three years. Ellington Financial has a dividend payout ratio of 88.1% meaning its dividend is currently covered by earnings, but may not be in the future if the company’s earnings fall. 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

EFC stock traded down $0.09 during midday trading on Thursday, reaching $12.15. 734,399 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 880,740. Ellington Financial has a one year low of $10.88 and a one year high of $13.46. The firm has a market capitalization of $1.10 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 9.27 and a beta of 1.97. The business has a 50-day moving average price of $12.25 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $12.59. 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 (NYSE:EFC) last released its quarterly earnings results 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. Ellington Financial had a return on equity of 10.26% and a net margin of 106.40%. The business had revenue of $33.63 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $37.95 million. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $0.33 EPS. Equities research analysts forecast that Ellington Financial will post 1.37 EPS for the current year.

Insider Activity

In other Ellington Financial news, CIO Michael W. Vranos sold 14,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, October 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $12.48, for a total value of $174,720.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive now directly owns 168,359 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,101,120.32. This represents a 7.68 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Corporate insiders own 4.40% of the company’s stock.

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.