Renaissance Technologies LLC Sells 224,825 Shares of MFA Financial, Inc. (NYSE:MFA)

Renaissance Technologies LLC reduced its holdings in shares of MFA Financial, Inc. (NYSE:MFA) by 26.6% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 620,525 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock after selling 224,825 shares during the quarter. Renaissance Technologies LLC’s holdings in MFA Financial were worth $6,323,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. Bank of Montreal Can raised its holdings in MFA Financial by 10.5% in the 4th quarter. Bank of Montreal Can now owns 11,890 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $121,000 after acquiring an additional 1,134 shares during the period. Independent Advisor Alliance increased its stake in shares of MFA Financial by 0.7% during the fourth quarter. Independent Advisor Alliance now owns 174,183 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $1,775,000 after purchasing an additional 1,224 shares during the period. Rhumbline Advisers lifted its holdings in MFA Financial by 1.4% during the 4th quarter. Rhumbline Advisers now owns 166,046 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $1,692,000 after purchasing an additional 2,287 shares during the last quarter. Wedbush Securities Inc. boosted its stake in MFA Financial by 24.8% in the 4th quarter. Wedbush Securities Inc. now owns 13,148 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $134,000 after purchasing an additional 2,610 shares during the period. Finally, National Bank of Canada FI acquired a new position in MFA Financial in the 4th quarter valued at $27,000. 65.28% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

MFA has been the topic of several research reports. StockNews.com downgraded shares of MFA Financial from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, March 28th. JMP Securities dropped their price target on shares of MFA Financial from $12.50 to $12.00 and set a “market outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods reduced their price target on MFA Financial from $13.50 to $12.50 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, February 20th. Finally, Janney Montgomery Scott started coverage on MFA Financial in a report on Thursday, January 2nd. They issued a “buy” rating and a $14.00 price objective for the company. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating and five have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, MFA Financial has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $13.60.

MFA Financial Price Performance

Shares of MFA Financial stock opened at $8.99 on Friday. The company’s 50 day moving average price is $10.15 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $10.74. 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, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $7.85 and a fifty-two week high of $13.45.

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

MFA Financial Increases Dividend

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

MFA Financial Company 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.