Vanguard Group Inc. Lowers Position in MFA Financial, Inc. $MFA

Vanguard Group Inc. cut its stake in MFA Financial, Inc. (NYSE:MFA) by 2.3% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 9,756,949 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock after selling 227,618 shares during the quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. owned 0.10% of MFA Financial worth $90,837,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Quarry LP purchased a new stake in shares of MFA Financial in the third quarter worth approximately $27,000. Headlands Technologies LLC raised its stake in shares of MFA Financial by 62.3% in the second quarter. Headlands Technologies LLC now owns 2,992 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $28,000 after purchasing an additional 1,149 shares during the last quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC raised its stake in shares of MFA Financial by 86.1% in the fourth quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 4,530 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $42,000 after purchasing an additional 2,096 shares during the last quarter. US Bancorp DE raised its stake in shares of MFA Financial by 540.5% in the third quarter. US Bancorp DE now owns 5,925 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $54,000 after purchasing an additional 5,000 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Tower Research Capital LLC TRC raised its stake in shares of MFA Financial by 23.9% in the second quarter. Tower Research Capital LLC TRC now owns 7,340 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $69,000 after purchasing an additional 1,417 shares during the last quarter. 65.28% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research firms have recently issued reports on MFA. Citizens Jmp upped their target price on MFA Financial from $11.00 to $11.50 and gave the company a “market outperform” rating in a report on Monday, May 4th. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “hold (c-)” rating on shares of MFA Financial in a report on Wednesday, April 15th. Citigroup reaffirmed an “outperform” rating on shares of MFA Financial in a report on Monday, May 4th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods reduced their target price on MFA Financial from $11.00 to $10.00 and set a “market perform” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, May 6th. Finally, Royal Bank Of Canada upped their target price on MFA Financial from $10.00 to $11.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a report on Thursday, March 5th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and four have assigned a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $10.69.

MFA Financial Trading Down 0.5%

Shares of NYSE MFA opened at $9.52 on Thursday. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $9.92 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $9.71. MFA Financial, Inc. has a 1-year low of $8.78 and a 1-year high of $10.56. The firm has a market cap of $967.44 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of 10.94 and a beta of 1.47.

MFA Financial (NYSE:MFA) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, May 5th. The real estate investment trust reported $0.30 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.31 by ($0.01). MFA Financial had a net margin of 17.80% and a return on equity of 6.86%. The firm had revenue of $43.31 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $67.52 million. During the same period last year, the company posted $0.29 earnings per share.

MFA Financial Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, April 30th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, March 31st were issued a dividend of $0.36 per share. This represents a $1.44 annualized dividend and a yield of 15.1%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, March 31st. MFA Financial’s dividend payout ratio is 165.52%.

About MFA Financial

MFA Financial, Inc, headquartered in New York City, is a real estate investment trust that specializes in investing in residential mortgage loans and mortgage-related securities. The company’s primary objective is to generate attractive risk-adjusted returns through net interest income and capital appreciation. As a mortgage REIT, MFA Financial focuses on constructing a diversified portfolio of agency and non-agency residential mortgage assets, leveraging its expertise in acquiring, financing and servicing mortgage products.

MFA Financial’s investment portfolio encompasses a wide range of mortgage instruments, including adjustable-rate and fixed-rate mortgage loans, interest-only securities, and agency mortgage-backed securities guaranteed by government-sponsored entities.