Barclays PLC Raises Stake in Ellington Financial Inc. (NYSE:EFC)

Barclays PLC grew its stake in shares of Ellington Financial Inc. (NYSE:EFC) by 230.3% during the third quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 138,440 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after buying an additional 96,525 shares during the quarter. Barclays PLC owned 0.15% of Ellington Financial worth $1,784,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other large investors have also bought and sold shares of EFC. McIlrath & Eck LLC purchased a new position in shares of Ellington Financial in the third quarter valued at about $62,000. Geode Capital Management LLC increased its holdings in Ellington Financial by 2.4% during the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 1,965,296 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $25,338,000 after purchasing an additional 46,530 shares during the period. Jane Street Group LLC raised its position in Ellington Financial by 38.3% during the 3rd quarter. Jane Street Group LLC now owns 142,085 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $1,831,000 after purchasing an additional 39,355 shares during the last quarter. State Street Corp raised its position in Ellington Financial by 4.1% during the 3rd 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 during the last quarter. Finally, Integrated Wealth Concepts LLC purchased a new stake in Ellington Financial in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $148,000. 55.62% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Separately, B. Riley upgraded Ellington Financial to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, January 7th. Two investment 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. Based on data from MarketBeat, Ellington Financial presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $13.58.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, CIO Michael W. Vranos sold 14,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Monday, October 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $12.48, for a total transaction of $174,720.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive now owns 168,359 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,101,120.32. The trade was a 7.68 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. 4.40% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Ellington Financial Stock Down 0.3 %

EFC stock opened at $12.10 on Friday. The stock has a market capitalization of $1.10 billion, a P/E ratio of 9.24 and a beta of 1.97. 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 Inc. has a 1-year low of $10.88 and a 1-year high of $13.46. The business has a fifty day moving average price of $12.25 and a 200-day moving average price of $12.59.

Ellington Financial (NYSE:EFC) last posted its 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 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 analysts’ expectations of $37.95 million. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $0.33 EPS. Equities analysts forecast that Ellington Financial Inc. will post 1.37 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Ellington Financial Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a monthly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, February 25th. Stockholders of record on Friday, January 31st will be paid a $0.13 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, January 31st. This represents a $1.56 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 12.89%. Ellington Financial’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 119.08%.

Ellington Financial Company 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.