JPMorgan Chase & Co. Increases Stake in Ellington Financial Inc. (NYSE:EFC)

JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased its holdings in Ellington Financial Inc. (NYSE:EFC) by 48.0% in the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 231,543 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 75,143 shares during the quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. owned approximately 0.26% of Ellington Financial worth $2,985,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in EFC. Harbor Capital Advisors Inc. boosted its position in Ellington Financial by 146.5% during 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 acquiring an additional 431,945 shares in the last quarter. State Street Corp boosted 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 valued at $40,885,000 after purchasing an additional 124,943 shares in the last quarter. Barclays PLC grew its stake in Ellington Financial by 230.3% in the third quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 138,440 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $1,784,000 after purchasing an additional 96,525 shares during the last quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC raised its holdings in Ellington Financial by 88.9% in the third quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC now owns 134,926 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $1,739,000 after purchasing an additional 63,515 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Intech Investment Management LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Ellington Financial during the third quarter valued at about $695,000. 55.62% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Separately, B. Riley upgraded shares of Ellington Financial to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, January 7th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, three have given a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $13.58.

Ellington Financial Price Performance

Shares of EFC stock opened at $12.56 on Monday. The firm has a market capitalization of $1.14 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 9.58 and a beta of 1.97. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 10.87, a quick ratio of 37.04 and a current ratio of 37.04. The stock’s 50-day simple moving average is $12.27 and its 200-day simple moving average is $12.60. Ellington Financial Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $10.88 and a fifty-two week high of $13.46.

Ellington Financial (NYSE:EFC) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, November 6th. The financial services provider reported $0.40 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.36 by $0.04. Ellington Financial had a net margin of 106.40% and a return on equity of 10.26%. The business had revenue of $33.63 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $37.95 million. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted $0.33 EPS. As a group, equities analysts forecast that Ellington Financial Inc. will post 1.38 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Ellington Financial Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a monthly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, February 25th. Shareholders of record on Friday, January 31st will be paid a dividend of $0.13 per share. The ex-dividend date is Friday, January 31st. This represents a $1.56 annualized dividend and a yield of 12.43%. Ellington Financial’s payout ratio is presently 119.08%.

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.