(FORTUNE Magazine) – Emmanuel Friedman and Eric Billings are used to blank stares of nonrecognition. It comes with the territory when you run one of the biggest investment banks nobody's heard of--and do it from the suburbs of Washington, D.C., rather than midtown Manhattan.

But what if they told you that they are now co-CEOs of the only real estate investment trust (REIT) that operates a major brokerage? That they are cleaning up in the underwriting business at a time when most of the industry is suffering through a lean IPO market? That their newly refashioned company's stock has a 12.5% yield? And that noted value manager Bill Miller of Legg Mason recently bought shares? Are you paying attention now? Good. Because, frankly, Friedman and Billings are a little tired of being ignored. And they're making some bold moves that are worthy of attention.

First, there's the company restructuring. In late March, Friedman and Billings completed the merger of their investment bank, FBR, with the highly profitable REIT they started in 1997, FBR Asset Corporation. The new holding company, Friedman Billings Ramsey Group (FBR, $11), has a market cap of $1.5 billion and total assets of $6.5 billion, making it one of the ten biggest independently owned investment banks. And it has assumed the tax-exempt status of the REIT, meaning that it must pay out 90% of its profits to investors. Thus, the outsized yield.

The hope is that the generous dividend combined with FBR's new market heft will finally attract some attention from Wall Street. Currently, it's not covered by any major analysts and rarely gets written about. That's ironic considering that, at a time when many investment banks have been trimming research staffs and fending off legal attacks, Friedman Billings Ramsey has been on a remarkable run of success. And the firm not only still believes in research, it's aggressively hiring new analysts. "The industry is in great turmoil now, and we're uniquely positioned to take advantage of it," says Friedman.

The firm's current success is all the more impressive considering that it has only a 14-year history. Friedman and Billings worked together at another D.C. bank, Johnston Lemon & Co., before leaving to start FBR as an institutional brokerage, along with partner Russ Ramsey, in 1989. They added investment banking in 1994. And it has built its business courting underserved small-and mid-cap companies. Its investment-banking group has a compound annual growth rate of 46% over the past four years.

Combine that with the company's steady business in mortgage-backed securities and its 2003 P/E of just 7.4, and the stock is plenty attractive to investors like Mark Patterson of NWQ Investment Management, who became a shareholder because he owned the REIT. "I don't sacrifice my dividend, the risk is limited, and I get a growth aspect," says Patterson. Now, pay attention. --Julia Boorstin