HighTower Advisors LLC Sells 4,634 Shares of MFA Financial, Inc. $MFA

HighTower Advisors LLC trimmed its position in shares of MFA Financial, Inc. (NYSE:MFA) by 20.1% during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 18,375 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock after selling 4,634 shares during the quarter. HighTower Advisors LLC’s holdings in MFA Financial were worth $189,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in MFA. Golden State Wealth Management LLC bought a new position in shares of MFA Financial during the first quarter worth $25,000. MQS Management LLC bought a new stake in MFA Financial in the 1st quarter valued at $131,000. State of Wyoming bought a new stake in MFA Financial in the 4th quarter valued at $137,000. PharVision Advisers LLC bought a new stake in MFA Financial in the 4th quarter valued at $140,000. Finally, Wedbush Securities Inc. lifted its position in MFA Financial by 9.1% in the 1st quarter. Wedbush Securities Inc. now owns 14,347 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $147,000 after acquiring an additional 1,199 shares in the last quarter. 65.28% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

MFA has been the topic of several research reports. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods cut shares of MFA Financial from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating and cut their price objective for the company from $12.00 to $10.00 in a research report on Thursday, July 10th. Royal Bank Of Canada set a $10.00 price objective on shares of MFA Financial and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, May 28th. UBS Group reaffirmed a “buy” rating on shares of MFA Financial in a research report on Wednesday. Jones Trading reiterated a “hold” rating on shares of MFA Financial in a research note on Monday, August 11th. Finally, JMP Securities cut 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 research report on Thursday, July 17th. Five equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and three have issued a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $12.14.

MFA Financial Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:MFA opened at $10.39 on Friday. The company’s 50-day moving average price is $9.60 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $9.74. MFA Financial, Inc. has a one year low of $7.85 and a one year high of $13.45. The stock has a market capitalization of $1.07 billion, a PE ratio of 11.94 and a beta of 1.68.

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

MFA Financial Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, July 31st. Investors of record on Monday, June 30th were paid a $0.36 dividend. This represents a $1.44 annualized dividend and a yield of 13.9%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, June 30th. MFA Financial’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 165.52%.

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.