Share prices for Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac fell Monday morning after an analyst said the mortgage finance companies have no "underlying value" to justify a more than tripling in their share prices in August.
"There is no fundamental value remaining in Fannie and Freddie, particularly since the government owns 80% of each company," Paul Miller of FBR Capital Markets wrote in a research note published Monday.
Fannie Mae shares were down 4.4 % in morning trading, to $1.95, and Freddie Mac declined 4.6%, to $2.29.
Last week the shares climbed to their highest levels since regulators seized Fannie and Freddie in September of last year as mortgage delinquencies climbed. Fannie closed at $2.04 on Aug. 28, up 252% for the month. Freddie finished at $2.40, a 287% jump.
Miller's note reiterated comments he made last week about the two government-sponsored enterprises, attributing the gains to speculation that Fannie and Freddie would pursue reverse stock splits to boost their share prices.
Miller noted that the GSEs said in securities filings that their boards did not support reverse splits.
Fannie and Freddie, the largest U.S. mortgage finance companies, have booked $165.3 billion in quarterly net losses over the past two years and received or requested $95.6 billion in taxpayer aid since November.
