Almitas Capital LLC Invests $789,000 in MFA Financial, Inc. (NYSE:MFA)

Almitas Capital LLC bought a new stake in shares of MFA Financial, Inc. (NYSE:MFA - Free Report) in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm bought 77,440 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock, valued at approximately $789,000. Almitas Capital LLC owned 0.08% of MFA Financial at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. National Bank of Canada FI acquired a new position in shares of MFA Financial in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $27,000. Sterling Capital Management LLC boosted its holdings in MFA Financial by 823.4% in the fourth quarter. Sterling Capital Management LLC now owns 3,278 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock valued at $33,000 after purchasing an additional 2,923 shares during the period. Quarry LP purchased a new stake in MFA Financial during the 4th quarter worth about $36,000. Parkside Financial Bank & Trust acquired a new position in shares of MFA Financial during the fourth quarter worth about $46,000. Finally, Strategic Financial Concepts LLC acquired a new stake in MFA Financial in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $104,000. 65.28% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research firms have weighed in on MFA. StockNews.com cut MFA Financial from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Friday, March 28th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods dropped their price target on shares of MFA Financial from $13.50 to $12.50 and set an "outperform" rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, February 20th. Finally, JMP Securities reduced their price objective 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, April 17th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating and five have issued a buy rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $13.60.

MFA Financial Stock Down 0.7 %

MFA traded down $0.07 on Monday, hitting $9.91. 934,268 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 989,506. MFA Financial, Inc. has a 12-month low of $7.85 and a 12-month high of $13.45. The company has a 50 day moving average of $9.97 and a 200-day moving average of $10.53. The stock has a market capitalization of $1.02 billion, a PE ratio of 12.23 and a beta of 1.69.

MFA Financial (NYSE:MFA - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, February 19th. The real estate investment trust reported $0.38 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.40 by ($0.02). The business had revenue of $50.80 million for 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, research analysts anticipate that MFA Financial, Inc. will post 1.5 EPS for the current year.

MFA Financial Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, April 30th. Investors of record on Monday, March 31st were paid a $0.36 dividend. This is a boost from MFA Financial's previous quarterly dividend of $0.35. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, March 31st. This represents a $1.44 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 14.54%. MFA Financial's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 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.