Government-controlled mortgage finance firm Freddie Mac on Tuesday said it will cut a check to the U.S. Treasury for $746 million, its smallest dividend to taxpayers since 2009. Freddie Mac reported a first quarter profit of $524 million, up from $227 million in the fourth quarter. The firm, along with competitor Fannie Mae, was bailed out by U.S. taxpayers in 2008 when a housing slump and financial crisis left it on the brink of insolvency.