Ellington Financial Inc. (EFC) to Issue Monthly Dividend of $0.13 on November 30th

Ellington Financial Inc. (NYSE:EFC) announced a monthly dividend on Wednesday, October 7th. Shareholders of record on Friday, October 30th will be paid a dividend of $0.13 per share by the financial services provider on Monday, November 30th. This represents a $1.56 annualized dividend and a yield of 13.4%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, October 30th.

Ellington Financial has increased its dividend payment by an average of 0.0%per year over the last three years. Ellington Financial has a dividend payout ratio of 91.2% indicating that its dividend is currently covered by earnings, but may not be in the future if the company’s earnings tumble. Analysts expect Ellington Financial to earn $2.09 per share next year, which means the company should continue to be able to cover its $1.56 annual dividend with an expected future payout ratio of 74.6%.

Ellington Financial Trading Up 0.3%

EFC opened at $11.62 on Friday. The company has a current ratio of 52.06, a quick ratio of 52.06 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 10.39. The firm has a market cap of $1.50 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 7.09 and a beta of 0.97. Ellington Financial has a 12 month low of $11.27 and a 12 month high of $14.12. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $12.97 and a 200-day moving average price of $13.10.

Ellington Financial (NYSE:EFC) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, August 6th. The financial services provider reported $0.60 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.46 by $0.14. The company had revenue of $134.11 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $114.59 million. Ellington Financial had a return on equity of 16.61% and a net margin of 52.43%. As a group, equities research analysts anticipate that Ellington Financial will post 2.13 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research firms recently commented on EFC. BTIG Research lowered shares of Ellington Financial from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating in a research note on Wednesday, June 17th. Weiss Ratings restated a “hold (c)” rating on shares of Ellington Financial in a research note on Tuesday, August 11th. Zacks Research lowered shares of Ellington Financial from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Monday, July 13th. Finally, UBS Group upped their price target on Ellington Financial from $14.00 to $14.50 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Wednesday, August 19th. Four analysts have rated the stock with a Hold rating, According to MarketBeat.com, Ellington Financial currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $14.50.

Ellington Financial Company Profile

Ellington Financial Inc (NYSE:EFC) is a real estate investment trust that invests in a range of mortgage-related and other financial assets. Its portfolio includes residential and commercial mortgage loans, mortgage-backed securities, consumer loans and other credit-related investments.

The company focuses primarily on assets tied to the U.S. housing and real estate markets. Its investment activities may include acquiring, financing and managing residential mortgage loans, including non-agency and other specialized mortgage assets, as well as commercial mortgage investments and mortgage-backed securities.