Ellington Financial (NYSE:EFC) Sees Unusually-High Trading Volume – Here’s What Happened

Ellington Financial Inc. (NYSE:EFC) saw unusually-high trading volume on Tuesday . Approximately 2,688,840 shares were traded during trading, an increase of 53% from the previous session’s volume of 1,752,579 shares.The stock last traded at $13.2460 and had previously closed at $13.86.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research firms have recently weighed in on EFC. Weiss Ratings restated a “hold (c)” rating on shares of Ellington Financial in a research note on Wednesday, January 21st. Zacks Research downgraded shares of Ellington Financial from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, October 10th. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and three have given a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, Ellington Financial presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $14.55.

Ellington Financial Trading Down 3.5%

The firm has a market cap of $1.49 billion, a P/E ratio of 9.98 and a beta of 0.95. The business’s 50-day moving average is $13.74 and its two-hundred day moving average is $13.53. The company has a current ratio of 50.60, a quick ratio of 50.60 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 10.64.

Ellington Financial (NYSE:EFC) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, November 5th. The financial services provider reported $0.53 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.44 by $0.09. The company had revenue of $242.08 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $121.99 million. Ellington Financial had a return on equity of 14.55% and a net margin of 89.04%. As a group, analysts expect that Ellington Financial Inc. will post 1.38 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Ellington Financial Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a monthly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, February 27th. Shareholders of record on Friday, January 30th will be given a $0.13 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, January 30th. This represents a c) annualized dividend and a yield of 11.7%. Ellington Financial’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 116.42%.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Ellington Financial

Several institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the company. Bank of New York Mellon Corp lifted its stake in Ellington Financial by 6.9% during the second quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 717,560 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $9,321,000 after purchasing an additional 46,288 shares during the last quarter. Delphi Financial Group Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Ellington Financial by 28.9% during the second quarter. Delphi Financial Group Inc. now owns 721,757 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $9,376,000 after purchasing an additional 161,700 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its position in shares of Ellington Financial by 3.7% in the 2nd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 2,187,694 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $28,422,000 after purchasing an additional 77,047 shares during the period. Yousif Capital Management LLC increased its stake in Ellington Financial by 4.8% in the 2nd quarter. Yousif Capital Management LLC now owns 35,076 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $456,000 after purchasing an additional 1,595 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Moors & Cabot Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Ellington Financial in the second quarter worth $271,000. Institutional investors own 55.62% of the company’s stock.

Ellington Financial Company Profile

Ellington Financial, Inc (NYSE: EFC) is a mortgage real estate investment trust (REIT) that focuses on generating attractive risk-adjusted returns through investments in residential and commercial mortgage-related assets. Established in 2013, the company is externally managed by Ellington Financial Management, L.P., a subsidiary of Ellington Management Group, an alternative asset management firm. EFC’s core strategy centers on actively acquiring and managing agency and non-agency residential mortgage-backed securities (MBS), mortgage servicing rights, residential whole loans, and other structured finance instruments, including asset-backed securities and commercial mortgage-backed securities (CMBS).

The company employs leverage and structured financing tools—such as repurchase agreements and secured credit facilities—to enhance portfolio yield while maintaining focus on risk mitigation.