Current Report: Ellington Financial May Grow Almost 27% Next Year

Ellington Financial Inc. (EFC) was founded in 2007 and is headquartered in Old Greenwich, CT.

Ellington Financial Inc. provides investment services through two divisions, the Investment Portfolio and Longbridge segments.

Three key data points gauge EFC (or any dividend-paying entity):

(1) Price 

(2) Dividends

(3) Returns

Those three keys also indicate if any company has made, is making, and will make money.

EFC Price

Ellington Financial’s single-share price fell $1.75 or 13.1% in the past year, from $13.34 to $11.59 per Friday’s closing market report.

Eight analysts cover the stock. The median of their one-year target estimates showed a $1.68 price gain ahead.

However, EFC’s past three years' price progression from $12.30 to $11.59 shows an average annual loss of about $0.24 as a prediction for the coming year’s returns. 

Subtracting $0.24 from the analyst-estimated $1.68 upside leaves $1.44 as a possible gain next year. Let’s use that number.

EFC Dividends

Ellington Financial paid variable quarterly dividends from December 2010 to April 2018, when it changed to monthly pay frequency.

The most recent Monthly dividend of $0.14 was paid September 30th, 2026 (to shareholders of record August 31st yielding $1.68 or 13.46% annually (per Friday’s closing market report)  

EFC Returns

Putting it all together, as of September 30th, a possible Ellington Financial net gain of $3.12 was projected. 

To get there, our $1.44 per share averaged annual price gain was added to the $1.68 presumed forward-looking annual dividend to make that $3.12 gross gain. 

A little over $1000 invested in EFC at Friday’s $11.59 closing share price would buy 86.28 shares, which multiply the hypothetical $3.12 gross gain to $269.20 for the coming year, or 26.92%.

A dividend dogcatcher rule is to only buy initial shares of a dividend stock that pays an annual dividend (from $1000 invested) that is greater than the cost of one share.

Ellington Financial’s projected annual dividend from $1K invested is $134.60, and that annual dividend proves to be about 11.6 times more than its recent $11.59 single-share price. 

The exact track of Ellington Financial’s future share price and dividend will entirely be determined by market action and company finances.   

Remember, the best way to track stock performance and dividend payments is through direct ownership of company shares.