Ellington Financial Inc. $EFC Shares Sold by Chicago Partners Investment Group LLC

Chicago Partners Investment Group LLC lowered its holdings in Ellington Financial Inc. (NYSE:EFC) by 24.3% in the second quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 22,205 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 7,113 shares during the period. Chicago Partners Investment Group LLC’s holdings in Ellington Financial were worth $296,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of EFC. CWM LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Ellington Financial by 67.6% in the second quarter. CWM LLC now owns 2,010 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $26,000 after purchasing an additional 811 shares in the last quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Ellington Financial by 243.8% in the first quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 4,800 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $64,000 after purchasing an additional 3,404 shares in the last quarter. State of Wyoming lifted its holdings in shares of Ellington Financial by 65.8% in the first quarter. State of Wyoming now owns 7,633 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $101,000 after purchasing an additional 3,029 shares in the last quarter. Russell Investments Group Ltd. lifted its holdings in shares of Ellington Financial by 99.4% in the first quarter. Russell Investments Group Ltd. now owns 9,918 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $132,000 after purchasing an additional 4,944 shares in the last quarter. Finally, WealthTrust Axiom LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Ellington Financial in the first quarter valued at $138,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 55.62% of the company’s stock.

Ellington Financial Trading Down 1.1%

Ellington Financial stock opened at $13.33 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 10.96, a current ratio of 46.78 and a quick ratio of 46.78. The company has a market capitalization of $1.33 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 10.75 and a beta of 1.00. Ellington Financial Inc. has a one year low of $11.12 and a one year high of $14.40. The company’s fifty day moving average price is $13.49 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $13.08.

Ellington Financial (NYSE:EFC) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, August 7th. The financial services provider reported $0.47 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.40 by $0.07. The firm had revenue of $92.54 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $112.48 million. Ellington Financial had a net margin of 89.52% and a return on equity of 13.56%. On average, analysts forecast that Ellington Financial Inc. will post 1.38 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Ellington Financial Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a oct 25 dividend, which will be paid on Friday, November 28th. Shareholders of record on Friday, October 31st will be issued a dividend of $0.13 per share. This represents a yield of 1,161.0%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, October 31st. Ellington Financial’s dividend payout ratio is 125.81%.

Insider Transactions at Ellington Financial

In other news, Director Ronald I. Simon purchased 5,544 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, September 11th. The stock was bought at an average cost of $13.56 per share, for a total transaction of $75,176.64. Following the completion of the acquisition, the director directly owned 80,000 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,084,800. The trade was a 7.45% increase in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. 4.10% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of analysts have recently issued reports on the company. Weiss Ratings restated a “hold (c)” rating on shares of Ellington Financial in a report on Friday. Zacks Research downgraded shares of Ellington Financial from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, October 10th. Piper Sandler dropped their price target on shares of Ellington Financial from $15.00 to $14.50 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, July 1st. Jones Trading raised shares of Ellington Financial from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $14.25 price target on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, August 13th. Finally, UBS Group upped their price target on shares of Ellington Financial from $12.50 to $13.50 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Wednesday, September 3rd. Five investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and three have given a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $14.46.

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.