Ellington Financial (NYSE:EFC) Issues Quarterly Earnings Results, Beats Expectations By $0.07 EPS

Ellington Financial (NYSE:EFC) released its earnings results on Thursday. The financial services provider reported $0.45 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.38 by $0.07, Zacks reports. Ellington Financial had a return on equity of 10.26% and a net margin of 106.40%. The business had revenue of $38.13 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $112.88 million.

Ellington Financial Trading Up 7.9 %

Shares of Ellington Financial stock opened at $14.35 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 10.87, a quick ratio of 37.04 and a current ratio of 37.04. Ellington Financial has a 52 week low of $10.88 and a 52 week high of $14.40. The stock has a 50 day moving average price of $12.56 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $12.62. The stock has a market capitalization of $1.30 billion, a PE ratio of 10.95 and a beta of 1.97.

Ellington Financial Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a monthly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, March 25th. Shareholders of record on Friday, February 28th will be paid a $0.13 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Friday, February 28th. This represents a $1.56 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 10.87%. Ellington Financial’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 119.08%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

EFC has been the subject of several recent analyst reports. B. Riley raised Ellington Financial to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, January 7th. JMP Securities reaffirmed a “market outperform” rating and set a $14.00 target price on shares of Ellington Financial in a research note on Thursday, January 23rd. Two analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, two have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, Ellington Financial has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $13.75.

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.