EJF Capital drops New York Community stake, revamps common stock portfolio

EJF Capital LLC dropped troubled New York Community Bancorp Inc. from its portfolio of common stock holdings and revamped its investment positions in the first quarter.

The Arlington, Va.-based asset manager increased its share count in Premier Financial Corp. by nearly sixfold, with the position worth about $3.2 million at the end of the first quarter. Premier Financial is one of the 20 biggest US public community banks by assets as of the first quarter.

EJF Capital almost tripled its share count in Asheville, NC-based HomeTrust Bancshares Inc. The bank is stopping its indirect auto loan origination and mortgage banking business to rationalize expenses.

EJF Capital's top two holdings in recent quarters — insurance company Jackson Financial Inc. and AI-powered financial technology company Pagaya Technologies Ltd. — were both out of the asset manager's top 20 common stock holdings as of March 31, according to its latest Form 13F filing.

This article is part of a series on large institutional investors active in the US financial sector. All institutional investment managers active in the US with over $100 million in investments in Form 13F securities must file quarterly statements detailing their positions.

Position changes

EJF Capital gave up its nearly $3 million year-end 2023 position in New York Community Bancorp, as the bank became mired in financial troubles.

NB Bancorp Inc., which completed a mutual bank conversion in December 2023, was EJF Capital's biggest common stock position in the first quarter. EJF Capital increased its share count in the company, the parent of Needham Bank, by 90.5% from the end of 2023.

After betting big on Pagaya Technologies with an initial $74.8 million stake nearly two years ago, EJF Capital shrank its holdings to less than $400,000 in market value in the first quarter from about $7.7 million at the end of 2023. Pagaya completed a 1-for-12 reverse stock split of its class A common shares in March.

EJF Capital's top 20 common stock holdings as of March 31 were mostly banks, with insurer Genworth Financial Inc. and new bet Cannae Holdings Inc. as the only nonbanks on the roster.

The value of the asset manager's common stock holdings totaled $143.4 million as of March 31, down from $189.9 million as of Dec. 31, 2023.

– Access an up-to-date summary of EJF Capital LLC's common stock investments, or find it on EJF Capital's main page on the S&P Capital IQ Pro website by selecting "Public Holdings Detailed" under "Investments" in the left-hand menu. – Read some of the day's top news and insights from S&P Global Market Intelligence.

New stakes

EJF Capital made nine entries in the first quarter, the biggest of which was with investment firm Cannae Holdings, at $3.2 million.

The next four biggest entries were all with banks — Barclays PLC, Five Star Bancorp, Heritage Commerce Corp and OptimumBank Holdings Inc.

EJF Capital also initiated positions in e-commerce giant Amazon.com Inc., energy company Schlumberger Ltd., restaurant payment platform Toast Inc. and real estate investment trust Boston Properties Inc.

Exits

Aside from New York Community Bancorp, which was its biggest exit in the first quarter, EJF Capital also exited financial insurance firm Assured Guaranty Ltd., consumer lender OneMain Holdings Inc., flight equipment company AerCap Holdings NV, oil and gas company Diamondback Energy Inc. and insurer Fidelis Insurance Holdings Ltd.