Ellington Financial Inc. (EFC) To Go Ex-Dividend on April 29th

Ellington Financial Inc. (NYSE:EFC) declared a monthly dividend on Monday, April 8th, Wall Street Journal reports. Investors of record on Tuesday, April 30th will be paid a dividend of 0.13 per share by the financial services provider on Tuesday, May 28th. This represents a $1.56 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 13.32%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, April 29th.

Ellington Financial has increased its dividend by an average of 11.4% annually over the last three years. Ellington Financial has a dividend payout ratio of 91.8% indicating that its dividend is currently covered by earnings, but may not be in the future if the company’s earnings tumble. Research analysts expect Ellington Financial to earn $1.74 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 89.7%.

Ellington Financial Stock Up 1.0 %

Shares of NYSE:EFC opened at $11.72 on Friday. The company has a current ratio of 46.75, a quick ratio of 46.75 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 11.30. Ellington Financial has a 12 month low of $10.88 and a 12 month high of $14.21. The company has a 50-day moving average price of $11.50 and a 200 day moving average price of $12.24. The company has a market cap of $996.48 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of 13.02 and a beta of 1.92.

Ellington Financial (NYSE:EFC) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Monday, February 26th. The financial services provider reported $0.40 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.41 by ($0.01). Ellington Financial had a net margin of 78.53% and a return on equity of 11.36%. The business had revenue of $27.99 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $30.77 million. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted $0.42 EPS. As a group, equities research analysts predict that Ellington Financial will post 1.53 earnings per share for the current year.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

EFC has been the topic of a number of recent analyst reports. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods reduced their price objective on shares of Ellington Financial from $14.00 to $13.25 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, February 28th. BTIG Research reduced their price objective on shares of Ellington Financial from $15.50 to $13.50 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, April 18th. StockNews.com lowered shares of Ellington Financial from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 17th. JMP Securities reissued a “market outperform” rating and issued a $14.50 price objective on shares of Ellington Financial in a research report on Thursday, April 18th. Finally, Jonestrading initiated coverage on shares of Ellington Financial in a research report on Friday, April 19th. They issued a “hold” rating on the stock. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have assigned a hold rating and four have issued a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $13.95.

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.