Swiss National Bank Purchases 3,600 Shares of Ellington Financial Inc. (NYSE:EFC)

Swiss National Bank increased its position in Ellington Financial Inc. (NYSE:EFC) by 2.2% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 171,000 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after buying an additional 3,600 shares during the period. Swiss National Bank’s holdings in Ellington Financial were worth $2,073,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Oregon Public Employees Retirement Fund increased its stake in shares of Ellington Financial by 4.4% during the 4th quarter. Oregon Public Employees Retirement Fund now owns 21,364 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $259,000 after purchasing an additional 900 shares during the last quarter. Steward Partners Investment Advisory LLC boosted its holdings in Ellington Financial by 162.3% in 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. Louisiana State Employees Retirement System increased its position in Ellington Financial by 4.3% during the fourth quarter. Louisiana State Employees Retirement System now owns 43,800 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $531,000 after buying an additional 1,800 shares during the last quarter. Illinois Municipal Retirement Fund increased its position in Ellington Financial by 4.3% during the fourth quarter. Illinois Municipal Retirement Fund now owns 45,842 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $556,000 after buying an additional 1,875 shares during the last quarter. Finally, State of Alaska Department of Revenue raised its holdings in Ellington Financial by 3.9% during the fourth quarter. State of Alaska Department of Revenue now owns 51,525 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $624,000 after buying an additional 1,918 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 55.62% of the company’s stock.

Ellington Financial Trading Up 0.6 %

Ellington Financial stock opened at $13.36 on Friday. Ellington Financial Inc. has a 52 week low of $10.88 and a 52 week high of $14.40. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 10.87, a quick ratio of 37.04 and a current ratio of 37.04. The firm has a market capitalization of $1.21 billion, a PE ratio of 10.19 and a beta of 1.99. The business’s 50-day simple moving average is $13.06 and its 200-day simple moving average is $12.67.

Ellington Financial (NYSE:EFC) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 27th. The financial services provider reported $0.45 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.38 by $0.07. Ellington Financial had a return on equity of 10.26% and a net margin of 106.40%. The company had revenue of $38.13 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $112.88 million. Equities research analysts forecast that Ellington Financial Inc. will post 1.38 earnings per share for the current year.

Ellington Financial Dividend Announcement

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

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of brokerages have recently commented on EFC. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods increased their price objective on Ellington Financial from $13.75 to $14.50 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Monday, March 3rd. JMP Securities reiterated a “market outperform” rating and set a $14.00 price target on shares of Ellington Financial in a report on Thursday, January 23rd. Finally, B. Riley upgraded shares of Ellington Financial to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, January 7th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, three have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Ellington Financial presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $14.00.

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.