Bailard Inc. Raises Stock Position in MFA Financial, Inc. $MFA

Bailard Inc. raised its position in MFA Financial, Inc. (NYSE:MFA) by 66.1% during the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 71,736 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock after purchasing an additional 28,536 shares during the quarter. Bailard Inc. owned about 0.07% of MFA Financial worth $679,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the company. Trust Co. of Vermont purchased a new stake in shares of MFA Financial during the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $28,000. IFP Advisors Inc increased its stake in MFA Financial by 40.7% during the second 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 last quarter. Huntington National Bank raised its position in MFA Financial by 58.6% in the second quarter. Huntington National Bank now owns 5,790 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $55,000 after purchasing an additional 2,139 shares during the period. Mutual Advisors LLC acquired a new position in shares of MFA Financial in the 2nd quarter valued at $96,000. Finally, Arkadios Wealth Advisors purchased a new position in shares of MFA Financial during the 2nd quarter worth $99,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 65.28% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

MFA has been the subject of a number of recent analyst reports. UBS Group reissued a “buy” rating on shares of MFA Financial in a research report on Wednesday, September 3rd. Jones Trading reiterated a “hold” rating on shares of MFA Financial in a research report on Monday, August 11th. Wall Street Zen raised shares of MFA Financial from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Monday, November 10th. Finally, Weiss Ratings raised shares of MFA Financial from a “sell (d+)” rating to a “hold (c-)” rating in a research report on Thursday. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and four have given a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $11.10.

MFA Financial Price Performance

NYSE MFA opened at $9.29 on Friday. The company has a market cap of $948.89 million, a P/E ratio of 10.67 and a beta of 1.73. The stock has a 50-day moving average of $9.38 and a two-hundred day moving average of $9.52. MFA Financial, Inc. has a 1-year low of $7.85 and a 1-year high of $11.34.

MFA Financial (NYSE:MFA) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, November 6th. The real estate investment trust reported $0.20 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.30 by ($0.10). The business had revenue of $101.03 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $57.40 million. MFA Financial had a net margin of 17.62% and a return on equity of 8.61%. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted $0.37 EPS. On average, analysts anticipate that MFA Financial, Inc. will post 1.5 EPS for the current fiscal year.

MFA Financial Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, October 31st. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, September 30th were paid a $0.36 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, September 30th. This represents a $1.44 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 15.5%. MFA Financial’s payout ratio is 169.41%.

MFA Financial Profile

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.