IFP Advisors Inc Boosts Stake in MFA Financial, Inc. $MFA

IFP Advisors Inc raised its position in shares of MFA Financial, Inc. (NYSE:MFA) by 40.7% in the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 4,321 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock after acquiring an additional 1,250 shares during the period. IFP Advisors Inc’s holdings in MFA Financial were worth $41,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in MFA. Golden State Wealth Management LLC purchased a new stake in MFA Financial during the first quarter valued at about $25,000. Trust Co. of Vermont purchased a new stake in MFA Financial during the second quarter valued at about $28,000. MQS Management LLC purchased a new stake in MFA Financial during the first quarter valued at about $131,000. EntryPoint Capital LLC purchased a new stake in MFA Financial during the first quarter valued at about $144,000. Finally, Wedbush Securities Inc. boosted its position in shares of MFA Financial by 9.1% in the first quarter. Wedbush Securities Inc. now owns 14,347 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $147,000 after buying an additional 1,199 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 65.28% of the company’s stock.

MFA Financial Stock Performance

NYSE:MFA opened at $9.06 on Wednesday. MFA Financial, Inc. has a one year low of $7.85 and a one year high of $12.75. The business’s 50-day simple moving average is $9.68 and its 200 day simple moving average is $9.49. The stock has a market cap of $930.19 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of 10.41 and a beta of 1.70.

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

MFA Financial Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, October 31st. Investors of record on Tuesday, September 30th will be paid a $0.36 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, September 30th. This represents a $1.44 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 15.9%. MFA Financial’s payout ratio is 165.52%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities research analysts have recently weighed in on the company. Jones Trading reaffirmed a “hold” rating on shares of MFA Financial in a research report on Monday, August 11th. UBS Group reaffirmed a “buy” rating on shares of MFA Financial in a research report on Wednesday, September 3rd. JMP Securities decreased their target price on MFA Financial from $12.00 to $11.00 and set a “market outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, July 17th. Weiss Ratings downgraded MFA Financial from a “hold (c-)” rating to a “sell (d+)” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 8th. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods downgraded MFA Financial from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating and decreased their target price for the stock from $12.00 to $10.00 in a research report on Thursday, July 10th. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, three have given a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target 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.