Ellington Financial Inc. (NYSE:EFC) Announces Monthly Dividend of $0.13

Ellington Financial Inc. (NYSE:EFC - Get Free Report) declared a monthly dividend on Thursday, November 7th,Wall Street Journal reports. Stockholders of record on Friday, November 29th will be paid a dividend of 0.13 per share by the financial services provider on Thursday, December 26th. This represents a $1.56 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 12.56%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, November 29th.

Ellington Financial has increased its dividend by an average of 12.7% annually over the last three years. Ellington Financial has a payout ratio of 96.3% indicating that its dividend is currently covered by earnings, but may not be in the future if the company's earnings fall. Research analysts expect Ellington Financial to earn $1.67 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 93.4%.

Ellington Financial Stock Down 0.1 %

NYSE EFC traded down $0.01 during mid-day trading on Friday, hitting $12.42. The company's stock had a trading volume of 1,282,902 shares, compared to its average volume of 782,906. The firm has a market capitalization of $1.08 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 9.48 and a beta of 1.99. The company's 50 day simple moving average is $12.73 and its 200 day simple moving average is $12.49. The company has a current ratio of 73.16, a quick ratio of 73.16 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 10.84. Ellington Financial has a twelve month low of $10.88 and a twelve month high of $13.46.

Ellington Financial (NYSE:EFC - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, August 6th. The financial services provider reported $0.33 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts' consensus estimates of $0.36 by ($0.03). Ellington Financial had a net margin of 106.40% and a return on equity of 10.41%. The business had revenue of $33.60 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $37.20 million. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $0.38 earnings per share. Analysts anticipate that Ellington Financial will post 1.37 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Activity

In related news, CIO Michael W. Vranos sold 14,000 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Monday, October 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $12.48, for a total transaction of $174,720.00. Following the transaction, the executive now directly owns 168,359 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,101,120.32. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. 4.40% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Separately, JMP Securities decreased their price objective on Ellington Financial from $14.50 to $14.00 and set a "market outperform" rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, July 24th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have given a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $13.56.

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.