Optimum Investment Advisors Reduces Stock Holdings in Ellington Financial Inc. (NYSE:EFC)

Optimum Investment Advisors reduced its holdings in Ellington Financial Inc. (NYSE:EFC) by 36.0% during the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 8,900 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 5,000 shares during the period. Optimum Investment Advisors’ holdings in Ellington Financial were worth $115,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its holdings in Ellington Financial by 1.0% during the first quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 4,879,336 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $57,625,000 after buying an additional 45,979 shares in the last quarter. Easterly Investment Partners LLC purchased a new stake in Ellington Financial during the first quarter worth $23,326,000. Van ECK Associates Corp boosted its holdings in Ellington Financial by 32.3% during the second quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp now owns 751,997 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $9,084,000 after buying an additional 183,544 shares in the last quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp boosted its holdings in Ellington Financial by 4.4% during the second quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 654,024 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $7,901,000 after buying an additional 27,392 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Principal Financial Group Inc. boosted its holdings in Ellington Financial by 2.0% during the second quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 419,249 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $5,065,000 after buying an additional 8,088 shares in the last quarter. 55.62% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Separately, JMP Securities lowered their price target on shares of Ellington Financial from $14.50 to $14.00 and set a “market outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, July 24th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and four have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Ellington Financial has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $13.85.

Ellington Financial Stock Performance

NYSE:EFC opened at $12.74 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 10.84, a quick ratio of 73.16 and a current ratio of 73.16. The company has a fifty day moving average of $12.95 and a two-hundred day moving average of $12.36. The stock has a market capitalization of $1.08 billion, a PE ratio of 19.90 and a beta of 1.98. Ellington Financial Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $10.88 and a fifty-two week high of $13.46.

Ellington Financial (NYSE:EFC) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, August 6th. The financial services provider reported $0.33 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.36 by ($0.03). The company had revenue of $33.60 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $37.20 million. Ellington Financial had a return on equity of 9.76% and a net margin of 103.55%. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $0.38 earnings per share. As a group, research analysts forecast that Ellington Financial Inc. will post 1.37 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Ellington Financial Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a monthly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, November 25th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, October 31st will be given a dividend of $0.13 per share. This represents a $1.56 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 12.25%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, October 31st. Ellington Financial’s dividend payout ratio is presently 243.75%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Ellington Financial news, CIO Michael W. Vranos sold 14,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Monday, October 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $12.48, for a total transaction of $174,720.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive now directly owns 168,359 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,101,120.32. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. 4.40% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Ellington Financial Company Profile

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.