NYMT - BTIG names New Residential Redwood Trust among top mREIT picks

BTIG analyst Eric Hagen initiates coverage with Buy ratings Annaly (NLY), AGNC Investment (AGNC), MFA Financial (MFA), Redwood Trust (RWT), Ellington Financial (EFC), Dynex (DX), and Ellington Residential (EARN).Assumes coverage of New Residential (NRZ) with a Buy rating.Top picks are NRZ, RWT, MFA, and DX.Initiates Chimera (CIM), PennyMac Mortgage (PMT), Two Harbors (TWO), New York Mortgage Trust (NYMT), and Great Ajax (AJX) with Neutral ratings.Initiates AG Mortgage (MITT) with a Sell rating.See total return of RWT, MFA, AGNC, and NLY vs. the S&P 500 over the past year:"With REITs currently trading below NAV, our near-term focus is on buying stocks that appear too cheap relative to the strength and cost of the funding structure they have in place, especially factoring in the liquidity being supplied by the Fed to keep funding and hedging costs low," Hagen wrote.Sees agency REIT portfolios better balanced between prepayment and liquidity risk "than we've seen

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BTIG names New Residential, Redwood Trust among top mREIT picks