MQS Management LLC Grows Stock Position in MFA Financial, Inc. $MFA

MQS Management LLC grew its holdings in shares of MFA Financial, Inc. (NYSE:MFA) by 118.7% in the 2nd quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The firm owned 27,948 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock after purchasing an additional 15,170 shares during the quarter. MQS Management LLC’s holdings in MFA Financial were worth $264,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the business. Wedbush Securities Inc. increased its position in shares of MFA Financial by 9.1% during the 1st quarter. Wedbush Securities Inc. now owns 14,347 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $147,000 after purchasing an additional 1,199 shares during the last quarter. IFP Advisors Inc raised its stake in MFA Financial by 40.7% during the 2nd quarter. IFP Advisors Inc now owns 4,321 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $41,000 after acquiring an additional 1,250 shares during the period. Golden State Wealth Management LLC purchased a new position in MFA Financial during the first quarter valued at approximately $25,000. Trust Co. of Vermont purchased a new position in MFA Financial during the second quarter valued at approximately $28,000. Finally, Inspire Investing LLC lifted its holdings in MFA Financial by 24.1% during the second quarter. Inspire Investing LLC now owns 41,464 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $392,000 after purchasing an additional 8,041 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 65.28% of the company’s stock.

MFA Financial Stock Performance

NYSE MFA opened at $9.13 on Tuesday. The company has a market capitalization of $936.86 million, a P/E ratio of 10.49 and a beta of 1.70. MFA Financial, Inc. has a one year low of $7.85 and a one year high of $12.75. The stock has a 50 day moving average price of $9.64 and a 200-day moving average price of $9.50.

MFA Financial (NYSE:MFA) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, August 6th. The real estate investment trust reported $0.24 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.29 by ($0.05). The firm had revenue of $61.28 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $59.50 million. MFA Financial had a net margin of 17.62% and a return on equity of 8.61%. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $0.32 earnings per share. As a group, equities analysts predict that MFA Financial, Inc. will post 1.5 EPS for the current fiscal year.

MFA Financial Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, October 31st. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, September 30th will be given a dividend of $0.36 per share. This represents a $1.44 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 15.8%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, September 30th. MFA Financial’s dividend payout ratio is currently 165.52%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities analysts have weighed in on MFA shares. Wall Street Zen raised shares of MFA Financial from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Saturday. JMP Securities lowered their price target on shares of MFA Financial from $12.00 to $11.00 and set a “market outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, July 17th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods downgraded shares of MFA Financial from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating and lowered their price target for the company from $12.00 to $10.00 in a report on Thursday, July 10th. UBS Group reaffirmed a “buy” rating on shares of MFA Financial in a report on Wednesday, September 3rd. Finally, Weiss Ratings raised shares of MFA Financial from a “sell (d+)” rating to a “hold (c-)” rating in a report on Saturday. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and four have given a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $11.75.

About MFA Financial

MFA Financial, Inc, together with its subsidiaries, operates as a real estate investment trust in the United States. It invests in residential mortgage securities, including non-agency mortgage-backed securities, agency MBS, and credit risk transfer securities; residential whole loans, including purchased performing loans, purchased credit deteriorated, and non-performing loans; and mortgage servicing rights related assets.