MFA Financial, Inc. (MFA): Among Billionaire Michael Platt's Stock Picks with Huge Upside Potential

We recently published a list of Billionaire Michael Platt’s 10 Stock Picks with Huge Upside Potential. In this article, we are going to take a look at where MFA Financial, Inc. (NYSE:MFA) stands against other billionaire Michael Platt’s stock picks with huge upside potential.

Michael Platt is the co-founder and CEO of BlueCrest Capital Management, which was founded in 2000 following his almost decade-long employment at JPMorgan. BlueCrest reached its height in 2013, when it became one of the world’s largest hedge funds, managing more than $35 billion in assets. In 2015, in response to equity challenges and disappointing results that caused investor withdrawals, Platt converted the company into a family office. This strategy adjustment proved to be a game-changing decision for BlueCrest Capital Management. Since becoming a family office, the fund has generated impressive net returns, including 50% in 2016 and 54% in 2017. It has continued to succeed, delivering returns of at least 25% annually, including outstanding net returns of 95% in 2020 and 153% in 2022.

Platt’s aversion to the spotlight is almost as famous as is his financial competence. His last significant public appearance was more than a decade ago, to promote an art display featuring a life-size wax gorilla nailed to a wooden cross. Since then, he has shunned the media. Despite his preference for privacy, Platt has been involved in a number of regulatory disputes. BlueCrest has received hefty penalties from both the US Securities and Exchange Commission and the UK Financial Conduct Authority for conflicts of interest and other regulatory violations. However, these setbacks have had no impact on his financial or reputational status, owing to the fact that BlueCrest does not have any external clients.

According to Forbes, Michael Platt is Britain’s richest hedge fund manager, valued at over $18.8 billion as of December 2024, and is among just a handful who have managed to profit in 2025 despite the global stock market sell-off caused by President Trump’s policies. According to Bloomberg, BlueCrest is already up 20% for the year, considering fees and costs. Platt allegedly employed aggressive leverage to take advantage of the increased volatility caused by President Trump’s trade war, with BlueCrest currently on course to finish a decade of consecutive returns.

Our Methodology

For this article, we examined BlueCrest Capital Management’s Q4 2024 13F filings to list down billionaire Cliff Asness’ stock picks with the highest upside potential. We ranked the companies in ascending order of their upside potential. These equities are also popular among elite hedge funds.

Why are we interested in the stocks that hedge funds pile into? The reason is simple: our research has shown that we can outperform the market by imitating the top stock picks of the best hedge funds. Our quarterly newsletter’s strategy selects 14 small-cap and large-cap stocks every quarter and has returned 373.4% since May 2014, beating its benchmark by 218 percentage points (see more details here).

MFA Financial, Inc. (NYSE:MFA)

BlueCrest Capital Management’s Q4 Stake: $1.7 million

Upside Potential as of April 29: 26.14%

Number of Hedge Fund Holders: 13

MFA Financial, Inc. (NYSE:MFA) is an American real estate investment trust that primarily deals in residential and commercial mortgage-backed securities. Since its IPO in 1998, the company has paid out dividends regularly, totaling over $4.8 billion.

MFA Financial, Inc. (NYSE:MFA) reported $50.8 million in revenue in the fourth quarter of 2024, a 9.3% increase over the same period the previous year. MFA Financial, Inc. (NYSE:MFA) also concluded the year with $339 million in cash and cash equivalents, a bump from $318 million in 2023.

JMP Securities analysts maintained a Market Outperform rating for MFA Financial, Inc. (NYSE:MFA), with a price target of $12.50, citing the company’s potential in the residential mortgage credit REIT sector. Meanwhile, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods reduced MFA Financial, Inc. (NYSE:MFA)’s price target to $12.50 from $13.50 while keeping an Outperform rating, indicating a cautious yet optimistic stance on the company.

Overall, MFA ranks 9th on our list of billionaire Michael Platt’s stock picks with huge upside potential. While we acknowledge the potential for MFA as an investment, our conviction lies in the belief that some AI stocks hold greater promise for delivering higher returns and doing so within a shorter time frame. There is an AI stock that went up since the beginning of 2025, while popular AI stocks lost around 25%.  If you are looking for an AI stock that is more promising than MFA but trades at less than 5 times its earnings, check out our report about this cheapest AI stock.

READ NEXT: 20 Best AI Stocks To Buy Now and 30 Best Stocks to Buy Now According to Billionaires.

Disclosure: None. This article is originally published at Insider Monkey.