Equity

3 Months Ended

Mar. 31, 2024

Equity [Abstract]

Equity

Equity

Common Stock

As of March 31, 2024 and December 31, 2023, the Company had 36,992,019 and 27,460,161 shares, respectively, of $0.01 par value common stock outstanding with 125,000,000 shares authorized at each period end.

Preferred Stock

The Company issued shares of preferred stock which were issued to institutional accredited investors in a series of private placements during the first half of 2020. The Company issued 2,307,400 shares of 7.25% Series A Fixed-to-Floating Rate Preferred Stock and 2,892,600 shares of 5.00% Series B Fixed-to-Floating Rate Preferred Stock. The shares had a liquidation preference of $25.00 per share.

During the year ended December 31, 2022, the Company repurchased and retired 1,882,451 shares of its series A preferred stock and 1,757,010 shares of its series B preferred stock in a series of repurchase transactions. The series A and series B preferred stock were repurchased for an aggregate of $88.7 million at an average price of $24.37 per share, representing a discount of approximately 2.5% to the face value of $25.00 per share. The repurchase of the preferred stock caused the recognition of $8.2 million of preferred stock discount during the year ended December 31, 2022. There were no repurchases of preferred stock in the three months ended March 31, 2024 and 2023.

During the three months ended March 31, 2024, the Company exchanged the remaining 424,949 shares of its outstanding 7.25% Series A Fixed-to-Floating Rate Preferred Stock and 1,135,590 shares of its outstanding 5.00% Series B Fixed-to-Floating Rate Preferred Stock and the associated warrants for newly issued shares of its common stock. Of the 12,046,218 shares, 9,464,524 shares of its common stock were issued during the three months ended March 31, 2024 and the remaining 2,581,694 shares of its common stock will only be issued following the approval of a majority of the Company's stockholders during its 2024 annual and special meeting of stockholders. The Company recorded a $12.6 million liability to account for the shares payable to the preferred holders. No preferred stock or warrants were exchanged during the three months ended March 31, 2023.

At March 31, 2024 and December 31, 2023, the Company had zero and 424,949 shares of Series A preferred stock and zero and 1,135,590 shares of Series B preferred stock outstanding, respectively. There were 25,000,000 shares, cumulative for all series, authorized as of both March 31, 2024 and December 31, 2023.

Treasury Stock and Stock Repurchase Plan

On February 28, 2020, the Company's Board of Directors approved a stock buyback of up to $25.0 million of its common shares. The amount and timing of any repurchases depends on a number of factors, including but not limited to the price and availability of the common shares, trading volume and general circumstances and market conditions.

As of both March 31, 2024 and December 31, 2023, the Company held 1,035,785 shares of treasury stock consisting of 148,834 shares received through distributions of the Company's shares previously held by its Manager, 361,912 shares received through its Servicer and 525,039 shares acquired through open market purchases.

Dividend Reinvestment Plan

The Company sponsors a dividend reinvestment plan through which stockholders may purchase additional shares of the Company’s common stock by reinvesting some or all of the cash dividends received on shares of the Company’s common stock. The Company issued no shares under the plan during the three months ended March 31, 2024 and 2023.

At the Market Offering

The Company has entered into an equity distribution agreement under which the Company may sell shares of its common stock having an aggregate offering price of up to $100.0 million from time to time in any method permitted by law deemed to be an “At the Market” offering as defined in Rule 415 under the Securities Act of 1933, as amended, or the Securities Act. During the three months ended March 31, 2024, no shares were sold under the At the Market program. Comparatively, during the three months ended March 31, 2023, 345,578 shares were sold under the At the Market program for total net proceeds of approximately $2.4 million. The Company deployed its net proceeds to acquire mortgage loans and mortgage-related assets consistent with its investment strategy.

Accumulated Other Comprehensive Loss

The Company recognizes unrealized gains or losses on its investment in debt securities AFS as components of other comprehensive loss. Additionally, other comprehensive loss includes unrealized gains or losses associated with the transfer of the Company's investment in debt securities from AFS to HTM. These amounts are subsequently amortized from other comprehensive loss into earnings over the same period as the related unamortized discount. Total accumulated other comprehensive loss on the Company’s balance sheet at March 31, 2024 and December 31, 2023 was as follows ($ in thousands):

Investments in securities:	March 31, 2024		December 31, 2023
Unrealized gains on debt securities available-for-sale	$	1,144	$	637
Unrealized losses on debt securities available-for-sale	(8,809)		(8,675)
Unrealized losses on debt securities available-for-sale transferred to held-to-maturity	(5,193)		(5,989)
Accumulated other comprehensive loss	$	(12,858)	$	(14,027)

Non-controlling Interest

At both March 31, 2024 and December 31, 2023, the Company had non-controlling interests attributable to ownership interests for three legal entities.

At both March 31, 2024 and December 31, 2023, the Company's ownership interest is approximately 53.1% of AS Ajax E II and it consolidates the assets, liabilities, revenues and expenses of the entity.

At both March 31, 2024 and December 31, 2023, the Company's ownership interest is approximately 50.0% of 2017-D and it consolidates the assets, liabilities, revenues and expenses of the trust.

At both March 31, 2024 and December 31, 2023, the Company's ownership interest is approximately 99.9% of Great Ajax II REIT and it consolidates the assets, liabilities, revenues and expenses of the entity.