Vanguard Group Inc. Sells 227,618 Shares of MFA Financial, Inc. $MFA

Vanguard Group Inc. lowered its position in shares of MFA Financial, Inc. (NYSE:MFA) by 2.3% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing 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 period. Vanguard Group Inc. owned about 9.55% of MFA Financial worth $90,837,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of the company. Headlands Technologies LLC grew its position in MFA Financial by 62.3% during the 2nd quarter. Headlands Technologies LLC now owns 2,992 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $28,000 after acquiring an additional 1,149 shares during the last quarter. Tower Research Capital LLC TRC grew its position in shares of MFA Financial by 23.9% in the 2nd quarter. Tower Research Capital LLC TRC now owns 7,340 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $69,000 after buying an additional 1,417 shares during the last quarter. MAI Capital Management grew its position in shares of MFA Financial by 13.3% in the 3rd quarter. MAI Capital Management now owns 12,126 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $111,000 after buying an additional 1,420 shares during the last quarter. Corient Private Wealth LLC grew its position in shares of MFA Financial by 1.4% in the 2nd quarter. Corient Private Wealth LLC now owns 102,007 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $965,000 after buying an additional 1,420 shares during the last quarter. Finally, PNC Financial Services Group Inc. grew its position in shares of MFA Financial by 12.0% in the 3rd quarter. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. now owns 17,887 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $164,000 after buying an additional 1,915 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 65.28% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

MFA has been the topic of a number of analyst reports. Citigroup reiterated an “outperform” rating on shares of MFA Financial in a research report on Monday, May 4th. 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 research report on Thursday, March 5th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods dropped their price target on MFA Financial from $11.00 to $10.00 and set a “market perform” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, May 6th. Citizens Jmp upped their price target on MFA Financial from $11.00 to $11.50 and gave the stock a “market outperform” rating in a research note on Monday, May 4th. Finally, Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “hold (c-)” rating on shares of MFA Financial in a research note on Wednesday, April 15th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and four have given a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $10.69.

MFA Financial Stock Performance

MFA stock opened at $9.52 on Thursday. The stock’s 50 day simple moving average is $9.92 and its 200 day simple moving average is $9.71. MFA Financial, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $8.78 and a fifty-two week high of $10.56. The company has a market cap of $967.44 million, a P/E ratio of 10.94 and a beta of 1.47.

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

MFA Financial Announces Dividend

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