Analysts’ Opinions Are Mixed on These Financial Stocks: Maiden Holdings Ltd (MHLD) and Ellington Financial (EFC)


Companies in the Financial sector have received a lot of coverage today as analysts weigh in on Maiden Holdings Ltd (MHLD) and Ellington Financial (EFC).

Maiden Holdings Ltd (MHLD)

B.Riley FBR analyst Randy Binner reiterated a Hold rating on Maiden Holdings Ltd today and set a price target of $1. The company’s shares closed yesterday at $0.64, close to its 52-week low of $0.47.

Binner said:

“Maiden (MHLD—Neutral, $1.00 PT) announced that the adverse development cover (ADC) deal with Enstar closed. We view this as a positive as this was the next main step in the company moving forward with a more formal run-off and resolution of the balance sheet. The terms of the deal were also updated to not include certain lines of business. This reduced the original attachment point, the cover and premium ceded from $2.4B to $2.2B, $675M to $600M, and $500M to $445M, respectively. While expensive, this structure does provide more clarity around the MHLD reserve picture and the company believes it has taken actions to be in compliance with Bermuda regulatory capital requirements.”

According to TipRanks.com, Binner is a 5-star analyst with an average return of 12.3% and a 63.9% success rate. Binner covers the Financial sector, focusing on stocks such as American Equity Investment Life, Colony Credit Real Estate Inc, and Health Insurance Innovations.

Maiden Holdings Ltd has an analyst consensus of Hold, with a price target consensus of $1.

See today’s analyst top recommended stocks >>

Ellington Financial (EFC)

B.Riley FBR analyst Timothy P. Hayes reiterated a Buy rating on Ellington Financial yesterday and set a price target of $18.50. The company’s shares closed yesterday at $16.87.

Hayes commented:

“We reiterate our Buy rating and $18.50 price target on shares of Ellington Financial LLC (EFC) following strong 2Q19 results that beat B. Riley FBR/Street estimates and covered the run- rate quarterly dividend of $0.42 per share. Core EPS came in at $0.46, beating our $0.42 estimate. During the quarter, EFC closed its third non-QM securitization and benefited as rates rallied and drove higher prices on spec pool assets. Subsequent to quarter end, EFC closed a $70M secondary offering, and management highlighted that earnings accretion from capital deployment and operating leverage will offset near-term dilution in book value. EFC was also added to two major stock indexes following its REIT conversion earlier this year, which alongside the equity offering, improved trading liquidity the stock.”

According to TipRanks.com, Hayes is a 4-star analyst with an average return of 5.0% and a 63.3% success rate. Hayes covers the Financial sector, focusing on stocks such as Fidus Investment Corporation, Ready Capital Corporation, and Saratoga Investment Corp.

Currently, the analyst consensus on Ellington Financial is a Moderate Buy with an average price target of $19.25.

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