Geode Capital Management LLC Has $24.45 Million Holdings in MFA Financial, Inc. (NYSE:MFA)

Geode Capital Management LLC cut its holdings in shares of MFA Financial, Inc. (NYSE:MFA) by 0.3% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 2,399,195 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock after selling 8,260 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC owned about 2.35% of MFA Financial worth $24,454,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of the business. Vaughan Nelson Investment Management L.P. boosted its stake in shares of MFA Financial by 11.0% in the 4th quarter. Vaughan Nelson Investment Management L.P. now owns 5,085,927 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $51,824,000 after purchasing an additional 502,840 shares during the last quarter. Norges Bank acquired a new position in MFA Financial in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $3,564,000. Barclays PLC boosted its holdings in shares of MFA Financial by 902.9% during the 3rd quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 374,481 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $4,764,000 after buying an additional 337,142 shares in the last quarter. GraniteShares Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in shares of MFA Financial during the 4th quarter worth approximately $2,484,000. Finally, Van ECK Associates Corp increased its stake in shares of MFA Financial by 20.3% in the 4th quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp now owns 919,603 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $9,371,000 after acquiring an additional 155,210 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 65.28% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research firms have recently issued reports on MFA. Janney Montgomery Scott initiated coverage on shares of MFA Financial in a research report on Thursday, January 2nd. They set a “buy” rating and a $14.00 price objective on the stock. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods cut their price target on MFA Financial from $13.50 to $12.50 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, February 20th. JMP Securities decreased their price objective on MFA Financial from $12.50 to $12.00 and set a “market outperform” rating for the company in a report on Thursday. Finally, StockNews.com cut MFA Financial from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, March 28th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating and five have given a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $13.60.

MFA Financial Stock Performance

Shares of MFA opened at $8.99 on Friday. MFA Financial, Inc. has a 52 week low of $7.85 and a 52 week high of $13.45. The stock has a 50 day moving average price of $10.15 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $10.75. The firm has a market capitalization of $921.18 million, a P/E ratio of 11.09 and a beta of 1.61.

MFA Financial (NYSE:MFA) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, February 19th. The real estate investment trust reported $0.38 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.40 by ($0.02). MFA Financial had a net margin of 16.47% and a return on equity of 9.61%. The company had revenue of $50.80 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $58.06 million. On average, equities analysts forecast that MFA Financial, Inc. will post 1.5 earnings per share for the current year.

MFA Financial Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, April 30th. Stockholders of record on Monday, March 31st will be issued a $0.36 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Monday, March 31st. This represents a $1.44 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 16.03%. This is an increase from MFA Financial’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.35. MFA Financial’s dividend payout ratio is currently 177.78%.

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.