Ellington Financial Inc. (NYSE:EFC) Shares Purchased by Thrivent Financial for Lutherans

Thrivent Financial for Lutherans lifted its holdings in Ellington Financial Inc. (NYSE:EFC) by 2.7% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 70,077 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 1,812 shares during the period. Thrivent Financial for Lutherans owned approximately 0.08% of Ellington Financial worth $849,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other large investors also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Larson Financial Group LLC boosted its position in Ellington Financial by 18,200.0% during the 4th quarter. Larson Financial Group LLC now owns 2,562 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $31,000 after purchasing an additional 2,548 shares during the period. Steward Partners Investment Advisory LLC lifted its stake in shares of Ellington Financial by 162.3% during the fourth quarter. Steward Partners Investment Advisory LLC now owns 2,602 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $32,000 after purchasing an additional 1,610 shares in the last quarter. AlphaQuest LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Ellington Financial in the fourth quarter worth about $37,000. McIlrath & Eck LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Ellington Financial in the third quarter valued at about $62,000. Finally, Atom Investors LP purchased a new stake in shares of Ellington Financial during the 3rd quarter valued at about $130,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 55.62% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

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

Ellington Financial Price Performance

Shares of NYSE EFC opened at $13.25 on Wednesday. The company has a quick ratio of 37.04, a current ratio of 37.04 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 10.87. Ellington Financial Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $10.88 and a fifty-two week high of $14.40. The business has a 50 day moving average price of $13.10 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $12.67. The firm has a market cap of $1.20 billion, a PE ratio of 10.11 and a beta of 1.99.

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

Ellington Financial Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a mar 25 dividend, which will be paid on Friday, April 25th. Shareholders of record on Monday, March 31st will be issued a dividend of $0.13 per share. This represents a yield of 11.7%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, March 31st. Ellington Financial’s dividend payout ratio is currently 113.04%.

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.