AG Mortgage Investment Trust, Inc. (NYSE:MITT) Q3 2023 Earnings Call Transcript

Page 2 of 2

Anthony Rossiello: Yes. So Bose, I think the way we’re breaking it up premerger is, I think the investment portfolio with the associated hedges is getting to that double-digit return. Arc Home’s ROE, if you bifurcated the balance sheet or the equity has been the drag. And so that’s why I think the investment portfolio, if you look back over the last, call it, 4 to 8 quarters, I think has done really well considering the market conditions. And I think we’ve really got that part of the business humming. I think we’ve been focused over the last few quarters on really helping drive ROEs in that Arc Home part of the equity pie, if you will. And then on a forward-looking basis, pro forma, if the deal were to consummate as expected, we do get significant G&A savings, which we gave you a preview in that supplemental we published a month or 2 ago that’s out there to give you a little bit more of a drill down on the G&A savings.

So the investment portfolio is doing good, I think. We need to get Arc Home ROEs up and then we’re going to get G&A savings pro forma post-closing the deal.

Bose George: Okay. Great. And then just one more on leverage, when should we see kind of a normalized leverage, especially with the agency and the mix? How should we kind of think about that number?

Anthony Rossiello: Yes. I wouldn’t think of having a lot of agency in the mix. So I think the way we’re looking at, it really depends on where we are in that aggregation period. So post securitization, as Nick just hit on, I think you can kind of run that risk retention, if you will, or the routine subordinates at about one turn. And then again, depending where we are in ramping on the loan side that will be the arithmetic to look at the overall corporate leverage. So —

Operator: Thank you. [Operator Instructions] Our next question will come from Matthew Erdner with JonesTrading. Your line is open.

Matthew Erdner: So WACC volume was real strong in the third quarter. Do you guys have any expectations just given the seasonality of what we should expect in terms of securitizations going forward through the winter?

Nick Smith: Yes. So when we think about WACC volumes in this environment, more and more and more seasonality is a component of that. We would like to think that interest rates have had their full impact on volumes and that’s been widely reported by the MBA and others. So when you extrapolate that, the expectation is from a seasonality standpoint, WACC volumes will decrease commensurate with the industry as a whole. That we said, we have a healthy pipeline for deals going into the end of the year and early next year.

Matthew Erdner: Great. Thanks. And then just as a follow-up to that, could you guys’ comment on the dividend for the fourth quarter, that $0.08 interim there? And then how should we think about that for 2024? Is it going to be a full reevaluation or just the assumption that it’s going back to $0.18 after the deal closes? Thanks.

Nick Smith: Yes. I mean I think our EAD continues quarter-over-quarter to kind of grow into that and then we’ll look at the impact of the G&A savings into 2024. So it will be evaluated over time. But we’re seeing progress in terms of the portfolio shifting more and more into that post-securitization leverage or financing. And I think that’s what’s driving the EAD up towards ’18 versus going the other way due to delevering like you might be seeing in the agency REITs, et cetera.

Operator: All right. Thank you. There are no further questions in the queue at this time. So I’d like to turn the floor back over to our speakers for any additional or closing remarks.

Jenny Neslin: Thank you to everyone for joining us for your questions. We very much appreciate it. Look forward to speaking with you again in the new year.

Operator: Thank you, everyone. This does conclude today’s call, and we appreciate your participation. You may disconnect at any time.

Follow Ag Mortgage Investment Trust Inc. (NYSE:MITT)

Page 2 of 2