Looking at the signature of that painting again, I think what we see is what is left after part of it was inadvertently removed at some point when the painting was cleaned in restoration. In consideration of that, it could be a Rembrandt. The issue is clouded by the fact that many paintings from Rembrandt's circle, but not by Rembrandt himself, had "Rembrandt" signatures added later to pump up their market value. The Rembrandt Research Project is still trying to sort that out.
Virgil Elliott
