Yahoo Finance Ellington (EFC) Declares Interim Dividend Before Merger Close
llington Financial Inc. EFC has announced an interim monthly dividend of 6 cents per share. The dividend will be paid on Dec 13, 2023, to shareholders of record as of Dec 8.
This dividend is being paid to shareholders of EFC as an additional payment prior to the effective date of closure of its merger with Arlington Asset Investment Corp. AAIC. The remainder of regular monthly dividend will be declared by EFC for the month of December as per ordinary course.
The merger agreement provided that Ellingtonis entitled to pay a portion of its monthly dividend prior to the acquisition, which is expected to close on Dec 14, 2023. This interim dividend is being paid according to calculations pursuant to the terms of the agreement.
On May 30, 2023, Ellington entered into a definitive agreement to acquire AAIC in a stock-and-cash transaction. The merger transaction was expected to provide an increased scale of operations and enhanced access to capital markets. Also, the deal was anticipated to be accretive to Ellington's earnings in 2023 and to its book value within one year of deal closure, with enhanced long-term growth potential.
Per the terms of the agreement, each share of Arlington common stock would be converted into 0.3619 shares (subject to possible reduction based on an asset performance provision) of Ellington common stock, or approximately 11.7 million shares of EFC’s common stock in aggregate.
Over the past six months, shares of EFC have gained 3.8% compared with the industry’s growth of 5.8%.
Image Source: Zacks Investment Research
Currently, EFC carries a Zacks Rank #4 (Sell).
Finance Stocks Worth Considering
A couple of better-ranked stocks from the finance space are Federal Agricultural Mortgage Corporation AGM and Ocwen Financial Corporation OCN. AGM and OCN currently sport a Zacks Rank #1 (Strong Buy) each. You can see the complete list of today’s Zacks #1 Rank stocks here.
The Zacks Consensus Estimate for AGM’s 2023 earnings has been revised 2.1% upward over the past 30 days. The stock has gained 22.7% over the past six months.
The consensus estimate for OCN’s 2023 earnings has moved 3.8% south over the past 30 days. The company’s share price has decreased 0.6% over the past six months.
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Ocwen Financial Corporation (OCN) : Free Stock Analysis Report
Ellington Financial Inc. (EFC) : Free Stock Analysis Report
Federal Agricultural Mortgage Corporation (AGM) : Free Stock Analysis Report
Arlington Asset Investment Corp (AAIC) : Free Stock Analysis Report
