Ellington Financial Inc. $EFC Position Increased by Hennion & Walsh Asset Management Inc.

Hennion & Walsh Asset Management Inc. grew its position in Ellington Financial Inc. (NYSE:EFC) by 175.7% in the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 95,947 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 61,140 shares during the period. Hennion & Walsh Asset Management Inc.’s holdings in Ellington Financial were worth $1,303,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Ellington Financial by 7.2% during the third quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 6,653,590 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $86,364,000 after acquiring an additional 449,074 shares during the period. Invesco Ltd. boosted its stake in Ellington Financial by 17.6% in the 3rd quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 2,218,506 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $28,796,000 after purchasing an additional 331,934 shares during the period. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. grew its position in Ellington Financial by 7.0% during the 3rd quarter. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. now owns 1,566,268 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $20,330,000 after purchasing an additional 102,957 shares in the last quarter. Marshall Wace LLP grew its position in Ellington Financial by 21.0% during the 3rd quarter. Marshall Wace LLP now owns 1,430,160 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $18,563,000 after purchasing an additional 248,055 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Van ECK Associates Corp raised its stake in Ellington Financial by 8.2% during the 3rd quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp now owns 899,817 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $11,680,000 after purchasing an additional 68,209 shares during the period. 55.62% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Ellington Financial Price Performance

NYSE EFC opened at $12.05 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 11.02, a current ratio of 47.25 and a quick ratio of 47.25. The firm has a market capitalization of $1.50 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 9.79 and a beta of 0.94. The company has a 50 day simple moving average of $12.40 and a 200-day simple moving average of $13.17. Ellington Financial Inc. has a 52-week low of $11.12 and a 52-week high of $14.12.

Ellington Financial (NYSE:EFC) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, February 25th. The financial services provider reported $0.47 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.44 by $0.03. The firm had revenue of $96.44 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $132.07 million. Ellington Financial had a net margin of 77.32% and a return on equity of 14.62%. Equities research analysts predict that Ellington Financial Inc. will post 1.38 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Ellington Financial Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a monthly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, April 30th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, March 31st will be issued a dividend of $0.13 per share. This represents a c) annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 13.0%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, March 31st. Ellington Financial’s payout ratio is currently 126.83%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of analysts have recently issued reports on EFC shares. Wall Street Zen lowered Ellington Financial from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a report on Saturday, March 7th. Weiss Ratings reiterated a “hold (c)” rating on shares of Ellington Financial in a report on Wednesday, January 21st. Three 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.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $14.56.

About Ellington Financial

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.