Two Harbors Investments (NYSE:TWO – Get Free Report) and Ellington Credit (NYSE:EARN – Get Free Report) are both small-cap finance companies, but which is the better investment? We will contrast the two businesses based on the strength of their profitability, analyst recommendations, earnings, institutional ownership, dividends, valuation and risk.
Profitability
This table compares Two Harbors Investments and Ellington Credit’s net margins, return on equity and return on assets.
| Net Margins | Return on Equity | Return on Assets | |
| Two Harbors Investments | -44.10% | 11.92% | 1.32% |
| Ellington Credit | 19.24% | 15.90% | 3.89% |
Analyst Recommendations
This is a summary of recent recommendations for Two Harbors Investments and Ellington Credit, as provided by MarketBeat.com.
| Sell Ratings | Hold Ratings | Buy Ratings | Strong Buy Ratings | Rating Score | |
| Two Harbors Investments | 1 | 5 | 3 | 1 | 2.40 |
| Ellington Credit | 0 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 2.50 |
Insider & Institutional Ownership
64.2% of Two Harbors Investments shares are owned by institutional investors. Comparatively, 20.4% of Ellington Credit shares are owned by institutional investors. 0.6% of Two Harbors Investments shares are owned by company insiders. Comparatively, 1.4% of Ellington Credit shares are owned by company insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that endowments, hedge funds and large money managers believe a company is poised for long-term growth.
Risk & Volatility
Two Harbors Investments has a beta of 1.3, suggesting that its share price is 30% more volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Ellington Credit has a beta of 1.32, suggesting that its share price is 32% more volatile than the S&P 500.
Earnings and Valuation
This table compares Two Harbors Investments and Ellington Credit”s revenue, earnings per share and valuation.
| Gross Revenue | Price/Sales Ratio | Net Income | Earnings Per Share | Price/Earnings Ratio | |
| Two Harbors Investments | $394.99 million | 2.56 | $298.17 million | ($2.50) | -3.88 |
| Ellington Credit | $15.07 million | 13.17 | $6.59 million | $0.18 | 29.36 |
Two Harbors Investments has higher revenue and earnings than Ellington Credit. Two Harbors Investments is trading at a lower price-to-earnings ratio than Ellington Credit, indicating that it is currently the more affordable of the two stocks.
Dividends
Two Harbors Investments pays an annual dividend of $1.36 per share and has a dividend yield of 14.0%. Ellington Credit pays an annual dividend of $0.96 per share and has a dividend yield of 18.2%. Two Harbors Investments pays out -54.4% of its earnings in the form of a dividend. Ellington Credit pays out 533.3% of its earnings in the form of a dividend, suggesting it may not have sufficient earnings to cover its dividend payment in the future. Two Harbors Investments has increased its dividend for 1 consecutive years.
Summary
Ellington Credit beats Two Harbors Investments on 10 of the 18 factors compared between the two stocks.
About Two Harbors Investments
Two Harbors Investment Corp. invests in, finances, and manages mortgage servicing rights (MSRs), agency residential mortgage-backed securities (RMBS), and other financial assets through RoundPoint in the United States. The company target assets include agency RMBS collateralized by fixed rate mortgage loans, adjustable rate mortgage loans, hybrid mortgage loans, or derivatives; and other assets, such as financial and mortgage-related assets, including non-agency securities and non-hedging transactions. It qualifies as a REIT for federal income tax purposes. As a REIT, the company must distribute at least 90% of annual taxable income to its stockholders. Two Harbors Investment Corp. was incorporated in 2009 and is headquartered in St. Louis Park, Minnesota.
About Ellington Credit
Ellington Credit Company, a real estate investment trust, acquires, invests in, and manages residential mortgage-and real estate-related assets. It acquires and manages residential mortgage-backed securities (RMBS), including agency pools and agency collateralized mortgage obligations (CMOs); and non-agency RMBS, such as non-agency CMOs, such as investment grade and non-investment grade. The company has elected to be taxed as a real estate investment trust. As a result, it would not be subject to corporate income tax on that portion of its net income that is distributed to shareholders. The company was formerly known as Ellington Residential Mortgage REIT and changed its name to Ellington Credit Company in April 2024. Ellington Credit Company was incorporated in 2012 and is based in Old Greenwich, Connecticut.
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