Advisors Preferred LLC Makes New Investment in Ellington Financial Inc. (NYSE:EFC)

Advisors Preferred LLC bought a new stake in Ellington Financial Inc. (NYSE:EFC) in the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The fund bought 35,520 shares of the financial services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $432,000.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Barclays PLC raised its holdings in Ellington Financial by 230.3% during the 3rd quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 138,440 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $1,784,000 after purchasing an additional 96,525 shares during the last quarter. State Street Corp grew its position in shares of 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 worth $40,885,000 after buying an additional 124,943 shares during the period. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised its stake in shares of Ellington Financial by 48.0% during the third quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 231,543 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $2,985,000 after buying an additional 75,143 shares during the last quarter. Harbor Capital Advisors Inc. lifted its holdings in Ellington Financial by 146.5% in the third quarter. Harbor Capital Advisors Inc. now owns 726,779 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $9,368,000 after buying an additional 431,945 shares during the period. Finally, Intech Investment Management LLC bought a new position in Ellington Financial in the third quarter valued at approximately $695,000. Institutional investors own 55.62% of the company’s stock.

Ellington Financial Price Performance

Shares of NYSE EFC opened at $12.70 on Friday. The company has a fifty day moving average price of $12.34 and a 200 day moving average price of $12.59. The firm has a market cap of $1.15 billion, a PE ratio of 9.70 and a beta of 1.97. The company has a current ratio of 37.04, a quick ratio of 37.04 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 10.87. Ellington Financial Inc. has a 1-year low of $10.88 and a 1-year high of $13.46.

Ellington Financial (NYSE:EFC) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, November 6th. The financial services provider reported $0.40 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.36 by $0.04. Ellington Financial had a return on equity of 10.26% and a net margin of 106.40%. The company had revenue of $33.63 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $37.95 million. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $0.33 earnings per share. Research analysts predict 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 given a dividend of $0.13 per share. This represents a $1.56 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 12.28%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, January 31st. Ellington Financial’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 119.08%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities analysts have issued reports on EFC shares. JMP Securities restated a “market outperform” rating and set a $14.00 target price on shares of Ellington Financial in a report on Thursday, January 23rd. B. Riley raised shares of Ellington Financial to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, January 7th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, three have assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, Ellington Financial currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $13.58.

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.