Cerity Partners LLC Decreases Stock Holdings in MFA Financial, Inc. (NYSE:MFA)

Cerity Partners LLC decreased its holdings in shares of MFA Financial, Inc. (NYSE:MFA) by 24.3% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 56,317 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock after selling 18,081 shares during the quarter. Cerity Partners LLC’s holdings in MFA Financial were worth $635,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of MFA. Carmichael Hill & Associates Inc. raised its stake in shares of MFA Financial by 93.5% in the third quarter. Carmichael Hill & Associates Inc. now owns 4,636 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $45,000 after acquiring an additional 2,240 shares during the period. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC purchased a new stake in shares of MFA Financial in the third quarter valued at $51,000. Counterpoint Mutual Funds LLC raised its stake in shares of MFA Financial by 28.0% in the third quarter. Counterpoint Mutual Funds LLC now owns 9,904 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $95,000 after acquiring an additional 2,164 shares during the period. Summit Wealth Group LLC purchased a new stake in shares of MFA Financial in the third quarter valued at $96,000. Finally, EMC Capital Management raised its stake in shares of MFA Financial by 436.4% in the third quarter. EMC Capital Management now owns 10,727 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $103,000 after acquiring an additional 8,727 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 65.28% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Separately, JMP Securities reissued a “market outperform” rating and issued a $12.50 target price on shares of MFA Financial in a research note on Thursday, April 18th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and four have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, MFA Financial presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $12.00.

MFA Financial Price Performance

MFA stock opened at $10.76 on Wednesday. The company has a market capitalization of $1.10 billion, a PE ratio of 26.89 and a beta of 2.11. MFA Financial, Inc. has a 12 month low of $8.41 and a 12 month high of $11.90. The firm’s 50-day moving average is $11.03 and its 200 day moving average is $10.75.

MFA Financial (NYSE:MFA) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 22nd. The real estate investment trust reported $0.46 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.34 by $0.12. The company had revenue of $169.88 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $43.75 million. MFA Financial had a net margin of 13.24% and a return on equity of 9.44%. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $0.46 EPS. Sell-side analysts forecast that MFA Financial, Inc. will post 1.47 EPS for the current fiscal year.

MFA Financial Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, April 30th. Investors of record on Thursday, March 28th will be paid a $0.35 dividend. This represents a $1.40 annualized dividend and a yield of 13.02%. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, March 27th. MFA Financial’s dividend payout ratio is presently 350.00%.

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.