Renaissance Technologies LLC Purchases 551,927 Shares of MFA Financial, Inc. $MFA

Renaissance Technologies LLC boosted its holdings in shares of MFA Financial, Inc. (NYSE:MFA) by 245.2% during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 777,025 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock after buying an additional 551,927 shares during the quarter. Renaissance Technologies LLC’s holdings in MFA Financial were worth $7,444,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of MFA. AQR Capital Management LLC acquired a new position in MFA Financial in the 1st quarter valued at $259,000. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of MFA Financial by 16.2% during the first quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. now owns 691,408 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $7,094,000 after buying an additional 96,365 shares in the last quarter. Rhumbline Advisers boosted its position in shares of MFA Financial by 7.6% in the second quarter. Rhumbline Advisers now owns 167,481 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $1,584,000 after acquiring an additional 11,800 shares during the period. Russell Investments Group Ltd. boosted its position in shares of MFA Financial by 5.3% in the second quarter. Russell Investments Group Ltd. now owns 62,090 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $587,000 after acquiring an additional 3,146 shares during the period. Finally, Norges Bank acquired a new position in shares of MFA Financial in the second quarter valued at about $716,000. Institutional investors own 65.28% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research analysts have recently commented on the stock. Weiss Ratings cut shares of MFA Financial from a “hold (c-)” rating to a “sell (d+)” rating in a report on Monday, July 6th. Citigroup reiterated an “outperform” rating on shares of MFA Financial in a research note on Monday, May 4th. Citizens Jmp increased their price target on MFA Financial from $11.00 to $11.50 and gave the stock a “market outperform” rating in a research report on Monday, May 4th. BTIG Research upgraded MFA Financial from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $10.50 price objective on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, June 17th. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods dropped their price objective 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. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, three have given a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $10.45.

MFA Financial Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:MFA opened at $9.16 on Tuesday. MFA Financial, Inc. has a one year low of $8.78 and a one year high of $10.56. The company has a market cap of $931.16 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of 10.53 and a beta of 1.42. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $9.39 and a 200 day simple moving average of $9.71.

MFA Financial (NYSE:MFA) last posted its earnings results on Tuesday, May 5th. The real estate investment trust reported $0.30 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.31 by ($0.01). The firm had revenue of $43.30 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $67.52 million. MFA Financial had a net margin of 17.80% and a return on equity of 6.86%. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted $0.29 earnings per share.

MFA Financial Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, July 31st. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, June 30th were issued a dividend of $0.36 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, June 30th. This represents a $1.44 annualized dividend and a yield of 15.7%. MFA Financial’s payout ratio is presently 165.52%.

MFA Financial Profile

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.