Your Best Hybrid REIT: American Capital Mortgage Investment Crp (MTGE)

Agency mortgage REITs are real estate investment trusts that seek to invest in mortgage backed securities for which any of the government Agencies, like Fannie Mae, Freddie Mac and Ginnie Mae, guarantee interest and principal payments. Therefore, Agency paper is considered to have no default risk. In contrast, non-Agency mortgage REITs invest exclusively in non-Agency MBS. Non-Agency securities are considered to offer considerably higher yields compared to Agency securities. Hybrid mortgage REITs combine the investment strategies of Agency and non-Agency mortgage REITs to provide a diversified investment portfolio. One such hybrid mortgage REIT is American Capital Mortgage Investment Crp (NASDAQ:MTGE), which delivered 41% economic return over the prior year. This comprised $3.60 dividends and a $4.87 per share hike in book value.

Company Description & Investment Mix

American Mortgage Investment was incorporated in 2011 and is being managed by the same team that manages American Capital Agency Corp. (NASDAQ:AGNC). The following graphs show the company’s investments as of Dec. 31, 2012.

It is evident from the above graph that American Mortgage Capital had a large concentration of Agency mortgage backed securities in its entire assets/investment portfolio at the end of the fourth quarter. The company has $6.4 billion worth of Agency residential mortgage backed securities, which is 90% of the entire quarter portfolio. Non-Agency RMBS are only 10% of the portfolio. Out of the $6.4 billion Agency RMBS, it is evident that 30-year fixed rate securities are 63%, while 15-year fixed rate securities are 35%. A small investment in 20-year fixed rate securities can also be viewed in the above graph. The company’s Agency MBS are comprised of 83% HARP or lower balance securities. These are highly prepayment protected as prepayment speed increases on lower loan balance, and higher LTV HARP loans should be significantly less than generic coupons

MTGE vs. AGNC

During the most recent quarter, MTGE increased its book value by $0.53 per share, while AGNC’s book value decreased $0.85 per share. Since MTGE’s Agency portfolio is composed of 83% HARP or lower loan balance securities, it beat AGNC with an average Agency CPR of 7%, compared to AGNC’s 10%. This MBS composition is also said to be the reason why MTGE beat AGNC on net interest rate spread during the fourth quarter too with a spread of 1.72% against AGNC’s 1.63%. MTGE did maintain higher leverage during the quarter at 8.3 times versus AGNC’s 7.8 times. However, one cannot call MTGE’s Agency portfolio substantially riskier.

Analyst Sentiments

Analysts have a consensus recommendation of outperform for American Capital Mortgage. 40% of the analysts covering the stock recommend their investors buy the stock, while 50% rate the stock outperform. Only one analyst has a hold rating for the stock.