Ellington Financial (EFC) Competitors

Hercules Capital (NYSE:HTGC) and Ellington Financial (NYSE:EFC) are both finance companies, but which is the superior business? We will compare the two businesses based on the strength of their dividends, valuation, risk, analyst recommendations, institutional ownership, earnings, community ranking, profitability and media sentiment.

Does the media favor HTGC or EFC?

In the previous week, Hercules Capital had 11 more articles in the media than Ellington Financial. MarketBeat recorded 15 mentions for Hercules Capital and 4 mentions for Ellington Financial. Ellington Financial's average media sentiment score of 1.06 beat Hercules Capital's score of 0.58 indicating that Ellington Financial is being referred to more favorably in the news media.

Company	Very Positive	Positive	Neutral	Negative	Very Negative	Overall Sentiment
Hercules Capital	6 Very Positive mention(s)	1 Positive mention(s)	6 Neutral mention(s)	1 Negative mention(s)	0 Very Negative mention(s)	Positive
Ellington Financial	3 Very Positive mention(s)	0 Positive mention(s)	1 Neutral mention(s)	0 Negative mention(s)	0 Very Negative mention(s)	Positive

Do insiders & institutionals have more ownership in HTGC or EFC?

19.7% of Hercules Capital shares are owned by institutional investors. Comparatively, 55.6% of Ellington Financial shares are owned by institutional investors. 1.9% of Hercules Capital shares are owned by company insiders. Comparatively, 4.4% of Ellington Financial shares are owned by company insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that large money managers, hedge funds and endowments believe a stock is poised for long-term growth.

Is HTGC or EFC a better dividend stock?

Hercules Capital pays an annual dividend of $1.60 per share and has a dividend yield of 7.4%. Ellington Financial pays an annual dividend of $1.56 per share and has a dividend yield of 11.9%. Hercules Capital pays out 99.4% of its earnings in the form of a dividend, suggesting it may not have sufficient earnings to cover its dividend payment in the future. Ellington Financial pays out 119.1% of its earnings in the form of a dividend, suggesting it may not have sufficient earnings to cover its dividend payment in the future.

Which has more risk and volatility, HTGC or EFC?

Hercules Capital has a beta of 1.35, indicating that its share price is 35% more volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Ellington Financial has a beta of 1.97, indicating that its share price is 97% more volatile than the S&P 500.

Is HTGC or EFC more profitable?

Ellington Financial has a net margin of 106.40% compared to Hercules Capital's net margin of 53.28%. Hercules Capital's return on equity of 17.19% beat Ellington Financial's return on equity.

Company	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Hercules Capital	53.28%	17.19%	8.77%
Ellington Financial	106.40%	10.26%	0.81%

Does the MarketBeat Community prefer HTGC or EFC?

Hercules Capital received 228 more outperform votes than Ellington Financial when rated by MarketBeat users. Likewise, 64.57% of users gave Hercules Capital an outperform vote while only 57.14% of users gave Ellington Financial an outperform vote.

Company	Underperform	Outperform
Hercules Capital	Outperform Votes 472 64.57%	Underperform Votes 259 35.43%
Ellington Financial	Outperform Votes 244 57.14%	Underperform Votes 183 42.86%

Do analysts prefer HTGC or EFC?

Hercules Capital currently has a consensus target price of $21.40, indicating a potential downside of 0.44%. Ellington Financial has a consensus target price of $13.58, indicating a potential upside of 3.81%. Given Ellington Financial's stronger consensus rating and higher possible upside, analysts clearly believe Ellington Financial is more favorable than Hercules Capital.

Company	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Hercules Capital	0 Sell rating(s)	1 Hold rating(s)	4 Buy rating(s)	0 Strong Buy rating(s)	2.80
Ellington Financial	0 Sell rating(s)	1 Hold rating(s)	3 Buy rating(s)	1 Strong Buy rating(s)	3.00

Which has higher valuation & earnings, HTGC or EFC?

Hercules Capital has higher revenue and earnings than Ellington Financial. Ellington Financial is trading at a lower price-to-earnings ratio than Hercules Capital, indicating that it is currently the more affordable of the two stocks.

Company	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
Hercules Capital	$493.59M	7.54	$262.97M	$1.61	13.35
Ellington Financial	$107.72M	11.01	$84.81M	$1.31	9.99

Summary

Hercules Capital beats Ellington Financial on 11 of the 21 factors compared between the two stocks.