Wunderlich Securities Maintains Anworth Mortgage Rating and PT

Anworth Mortgage Asset Corporation (NYSE: ANH) reported 3Q10 EPS of $0.19, “falling short of our $0.25 estimate,” Wunderlich Securities reports.

“Its results may be a function of ultra-conservatism, but management had embarked on a more aggressive strategy at the tail end of the boom cycle that resulted in significant and permanent equity impairment,” Wunderlich Securities writes. “We believe current below-average returns could be equally a function of management's lack of confidence in its equity allocation model and a function of dislocations in the housing finance market.”

Wunderlich Securities maintains its Hold rating and $7.50 target on Anworth Mortgage Asset Corporation, which currently trades at $6.83.