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

Ellington Financial Inc. (NYSE:EFC) announced a monthly dividend on Monday, October 7th, NASDAQ reports. Stockholders of record on Thursday, October 31st will be given a dividend of 0.13 per share by the financial services provider on Monday, November 25th. This represents a $1.56 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 12.55%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, October 31st.

Ellington Financial has raised its dividend by an average of 12.7% annually over the last three years. Ellington Financial has a dividend payout ratio of 95.7% indicating that its dividend is currently covered by earnings, but may not be in the future if the company’s earnings decline. 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

Shares of NYSE:EFC traded up $0.07 during trading on Tuesday, hitting $12.44. 696,591 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 988,432. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 10.84, a quick ratio of 73.16 and a current ratio of 73.16. The company has a market capitalization of $1.06 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 19.33 and a beta of 1.98. Ellington Financial has a 1-year low of $10.88 and a 1-year high of $13.46. The company’s fifty day simple moving average is $12.95 and its 200-day simple moving average is $12.32.

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

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

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

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.