Raffles Associates LP Sells 38,249 Shares of Ellington Financial Inc. (NYSE:EFC)

Raffles Associates LP reduced its holdings in Ellington Financial Inc. (NYSE:EFC) by 52.2% in the second quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 35,071 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 38,249 shares during the period. Raffles Associates LP’s holdings in Ellington Financial were worth $424,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

A number of other large investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the business. Public Sector Pension Investment Board raised its stake in shares of Ellington Financial by 14.9% in the second quarter. Public Sector Pension Investment Board now owns 187,089 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $2,260,000 after acquiring an additional 24,204 shares during the period. Thrivent Financial for Lutherans grew its position in Ellington Financial by 2.7% in the 2nd quarter. Thrivent Financial for Lutherans now owns 70,597 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $853,000 after acquiring an additional 1,824 shares during the last quarter. MAS Advisors LLC increased its stake in Ellington Financial by 4.6% in the second quarter. MAS Advisors LLC now owns 38,972 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $471,000 after purchasing an additional 1,707 shares during the period. Prevail Innovative Wealth Advisors LLC bought a new stake in shares of Ellington Financial during the second quarter worth $2,968,000. Finally, PFG Investments LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Ellington Financial during the second quarter valued at $141,000. 55.62% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Separately, JMP Securities decreased their price objective on shares of Ellington Financial from $14.50 to $14.00 and set a “market outperform” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, July 24th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and four have given a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, Ellington Financial presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $13.85.

Ellington Financial Stock Performance

Shares of Ellington Financial stock opened at $13.03 on Tuesday. The company has a current ratio of 73.16, a quick ratio of 73.16 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 10.84. The stock’s fifty day moving average price is $12.99 and its 200-day moving average price is $12.23. The firm has a market cap of $1.11 billion, a P/E ratio of 20.36 and a beta of 1.98. Ellington Financial Inc. has a 12 month low of $10.88 and a 12 month high of $13.46.

Ellington Financial (NYSE:EFC) last posted its earnings results on Tuesday, August 6th. The financial services provider reported $0.33 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.36 by ($0.03). Ellington Financial had a net margin of 103.55% and a return on equity of 9.76%. The business had revenue of $33.60 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $37.20 million. During the same period last year, the business posted $0.38 EPS. On average, equities research analysts expect that Ellington Financial Inc. will post 1.37 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Ellington Financial Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a monthly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, October 25th. Shareholders of record on Monday, September 30th will be given a dividend of $0.13 per share. The ex-dividend date is Monday, September 30th. This represents a $1.56 annualized dividend and a yield of 11.97%. Ellington Financial’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 243.75%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Ellington Financial

In other news, CIO Michael W. Vranos sold 5,900 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, July 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $12.12, for a total value of $71,508.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive now directly owns 179,655 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,177,418.60. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Insiders own 4.40% of the company’s stock.

Ellington Financial 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.