In the aftermath of the $1.2 billion acquisition of Home Loan Servicing Solutions (HLSS), New Residential Investment (NRZ) is only headed one direction – up.
The prediction comes courtesy of FBR Capital Markets, which reiterated its “outperform” ratings for New Residential in a note to clients Wednesday.
But FBR didn’t just reiterate its previously established rating for New Residential, FBR also raised its price target for New Residential from $17 to $18 and named the company one of FBR’s “Top Picks.”
New Residential’s stock closed Wednesday at $15.96.
FBR said that it is adding New Residential to its “Top Picks” because of its positive outlook for the company's prospects going forward and potential upside to shares.
According to FBR, the $18 price target represents a 10% dividend yield based on its fiscal 2016 dividend estimate of $1.80. FBR said the HLSS acquisition, in addition to New Residential’s plan to co-invest in Nationstar Mortgage’s (NSM) newly purchased mortgage servicing rights portfolios, should transform New Residential's portfolio into a “more MSR asset centric one with a higher and more stable core earnings stream.”
According to FBR’s report, New Residential is predicted to commit $325 million of capital and acquire a 33% share of Nationstar's newly purchased MSR portfolios through the third quarter of this year.
“Additionally, the company purchased the cleanup call rights on $145 billion of UPB from Ocwen Financial (OCN) which adds to its existing holdings,” FBR said in the report. “We believe that this high-quality portfolio with its servicing asset focus will likely garner a lower dividend yield for New Residential.”
After the HLSS acquisition, New Residential will have $9.1 billion of servicing advances on its balance sheet, over $1.5 billion of excess MSRs with $410 billion of unpaid principal balance, $2.4 billion of agency and non-agency residential mortgage-backed securities, and roughly $793 million of non-performing loans and re-performing loans, FBR said in its report.
“We continue to see meaningful earnings and portfolio growth prospects for New Residential as it executes on its call right strategy and is able to continue investing in further MSR portfolios through NSM or on its own as it gets a servicing license, something management has been talking about for a while,” FBR said in the report. “This is especially true given our expectation for the large servicers to sell more of their distressed servicing.”
