JPMorgan Chase & Co. Has $2.84 Million Stake in MFA Financial, Inc. $MFA

JPMorgan Chase & Co. decreased its position in MFA Financial, Inc. (NYSE:MFA) by 41.9% in the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 308,980 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock after selling 223,240 shares during the quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. owned about 0.30% of MFA Financial worth $2,840,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in MFA. Citigroup Inc. lifted its stake in MFA Financial by 440.1% in the third quarter. Citigroup Inc. now owns 1,345,561 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $12,366,000 after acquiring an additional 1,096,443 shares during the last quarter. Balyasny Asset Management L.P. raised its holdings in shares of MFA Financial by 53.1% during the 2nd quarter. Balyasny Asset Management L.P. now owns 2,820,393 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $26,681,000 after purchasing an additional 977,820 shares in the last quarter. First Trust Advisors LP raised its holdings in shares of MFA Financial by 152.8% during the 2nd quarter. First Trust Advisors LP now owns 1,022,065 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $9,669,000 after purchasing an additional 617,759 shares in the last quarter. Wolverine Asset Management LLC lifted its stake in shares of MFA Financial by 57.5% in the 3rd quarter. Wolverine Asset Management LLC now owns 1,513,503 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $13,909,000 after purchasing an additional 552,517 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Two Sigma Investments LP lifted its stake in shares of MFA Financial by 112.1% in the 3rd quarter. Two Sigma Investments LP now owns 778,019 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $7,150,000 after purchasing an additional 411,128 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 65.28% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research firms have commented on MFA. Weiss Ratings raised shares of MFA Financial from a “sell (d+)” rating to a “hold (c-)” rating in a research report on Friday, January 16th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods upped their price target on MFA Financial from $10.00 to $11.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a research note on Friday, February 20th. Finally, Royal Bank Of Canada increased their price objective on MFA Financial from $10.00 to $11.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a report on Thursday, March 5th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and four have assigned a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $10.81.

MFA Financial Trading Up 0.1%

NYSE MFA opened at $9.71 on Monday. MFA Financial, Inc. has a 1 year low of $7.85 and a 1 year high of $10.56. The company has a fifty day simple moving average of $9.88 and a 200 day simple moving average of $9.59. The company has a market cap of $990.78 million, a P/E ratio of 7.52 and a beta of 1.54.

MFA Financial (NYSE:MFA) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, February 18th. The real estate investment trust reported $0.27 EPS for the quarter, hitting the consensus estimate of $0.27. MFA Financial had a net margin of 23.73% and a return on equity of 6.67%. The firm had revenue of $88.72 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $60.56 million. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $0.39 EPS. Equities research analysts forecast that MFA Financial, Inc. will post 1.5 EPS for the current fiscal year.

MFA Financial Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, April 30th. Investors of record on Tuesday, March 31st will be given a dividend of $0.36 per share. This represents a $1.44 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 14.8%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, March 31st. MFA Financial’s payout ratio is currently 111.63%.

MFA Financial Company Profile

MFA Financial, Inc, headquartered in New York City, is a real estate investment trust that specializes in investing in residential mortgage loans and mortgage-related securities. The company’s primary objective is to generate attractive risk-adjusted returns through net interest income and capital appreciation. As a mortgage REIT, MFA Financial focuses on constructing a diversified portfolio of agency and non-agency residential mortgage assets, leveraging its expertise in acquiring, financing and servicing mortgage products.

MFA Financial’s investment portfolio encompasses a wide range of mortgage instruments, including adjustable-rate and fixed-rate mortgage loans, interest-only securities, and agency mortgage-backed securities guaranteed by government-sponsored entities.