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

Ellington Financial Inc. (NYSE:EFC) announced a monthly dividend on Monday, February 10th, Wall Street Journal reports. Stockholders of record on Friday, February 28th will be given a dividend of 0.13 per share by the financial services provider on Tuesday, March 25th. This represents a $1.56 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 11.72%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, February 28th.

Ellington Financial has increased its dividend by an average of 2.6% per year over the last three years. Ellington Financial has a dividend payout ratio of 90.7% meaning its dividend is currently covered by earnings, but may not be in the future if the company’s earnings decline. Equities 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 Performance

Shares of EFC stock opened at $13.32 on Wednesday. Ellington Financial has a 12-month low of $10.88 and a 12-month high of $13.46. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 10.87, a current ratio of 37.04 and a quick ratio of 37.04. The firm has a market capitalization of $1.21 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 10.16 and a beta of 1.97. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $12.50 and a 200 day simple moving average of $12.61.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research analysts have recently commented on the company. B. Riley raised Ellington Financial to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, January 7th. JMP Securities reiterated a “market outperform” rating and issued a $14.00 target price on shares of Ellington Financial in a research report on Thursday, January 23rd. Two analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, three have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $13.58.

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.