MFA Financial, Inc. (NYSE:MFA) Shares Acquired by Northern Trust Corp

Northern Trust Corp increased its stake in shares of MFA Financial, Inc. (NYSE:MFA) by 10.8% during the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 1,006,842 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock after acquiring an additional 97,945 shares during the period. Northern Trust Corp’s holdings in MFA Financial were worth $10,260,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. lifted its position in MFA Financial by 3.3% during the 4th quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 1,895,670 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $19,317,000 after acquiring an additional 60,261 shares during the period. Barclays PLC lifted its holdings in shares of MFA Financial by 902.9% during the third quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 374,481 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $4,764,000 after purchasing an additional 337,142 shares during the period. Invesco Ltd. grew its position in MFA Financial by 16.9% in the 4th quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 1,223,112 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $12,464,000 after buying an additional 177,067 shares during the last quarter. Kingswood Wealth Advisors LLC acquired a new position in MFA Financial in the 4th quarter valued at $428,000. Finally, GraniteShares Advisors LLC acquired a new position in MFA Financial in the 4th quarter valued at $2,484,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 65.28% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research firms have recently commented on MFA. StockNews.com cut shares of MFA Financial from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, March 28th. JMP Securities cut 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 report on Thursday, April 17th. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods reduced their price objective on shares of MFA Financial from $12.50 to $12.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, May 8th. One analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating and five have issued a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $13.50.

MFA Financial Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE MFA opened at $9.83 on Friday. MFA Financial, Inc. has a one year low of $7.85 and a one year high of $13.45. The firm has a market capitalization of $1.01 billion, a P/E ratio of 12.13 and a beta of 1.69. The company’s fifty day moving average is $9.76 and its two-hundred day moving average is $10.35.

MFA Financial (NYSE:MFA) last released its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, May 6th. The real estate investment trust reported $0.29 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.33 by ($0.04). MFA Financial had a return on equity of 9.61% and a net margin of 16.47%. The company had revenue of $57.54 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $48.80 million. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $0.35 EPS. On average, sell-side analysts forecast that MFA Financial, Inc. will post 1.5 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

MFA Financial Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, April 30th. Stockholders of record on Monday, March 31st were paid a dividend of $0.36 per share. This is a positive change from MFA Financial’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.35. The ex-dividend date was Monday, March 31st. This represents a $1.44 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 14.66%. MFA Financial’s payout ratio is 146.94%.

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.