Brevan Howard Capital Management LP Takes Position in MFA Financial, Inc. (NYSE:MFA)

Brevan Howard Capital Management LP acquired a new stake in shares of MFA Financial, Inc. (NYSE:MFA - Free Report) during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor acquired 31,712 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock, valued at approximately $323,000.

A number of other hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in MFA. Barclays PLC lifted its position in shares of MFA Financial by 902.9% in the 3rd quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 374,481 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock worth $4,764,000 after acquiring an additional 337,142 shares during the period. Franklin Resources Inc. grew its stake in shares of MFA Financial by 6.7% during the third quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 448,989 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock worth $5,572,000 after purchasing an additional 28,382 shares during the period. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted its holdings in MFA Financial by 2.3% during the third quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 1,081,225 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock worth $13,753,000 after acquiring an additional 23,852 shares in the last quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC lifted its holdings in shares of MFA Financial by 31.9% in the fourth quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC now owns 40,681 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock valued at $415,000 after purchasing an additional 9,836 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Inspire Investing LLC raised its holdings in MFA Financial by 22.3% during the fourth quarter. Inspire Investing LLC now owns 39,594 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock worth $403,000 after acquiring an additional 7,220 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 65.28% of the company's stock.

MFA Financial Stock Performance

MFA traded down $0.04 during midday trading on Wednesday, reaching $9.56. 1,157,742 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,017,507. The company's fifty day moving average price is $9.82 and its 200 day moving average price is $10.41. The company has a market cap of $981.36 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of 11.80 and a beta of 1.69. MFA Financial, Inc. has a one year low of $7.85 and a one year high of $13.45.

MFA Financial (NYSE:MFA - Get Free Report) last issued 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). The company had revenue of $57.54 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $48.80 million. MFA Financial had a return on equity of 9.61% and a net margin of 16.47%. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $0.35 earnings per share. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that MFA Financial, Inc. will post 1.5 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

MFA Financial Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, April 30th. Shareholders of record on Monday, March 31st were issued a dividend of $0.36 per share. This is a positive change from MFA Financial's previous quarterly dividend of $0.35. This represents a $1.44 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 15.06%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, March 31st. MFA Financial's payout ratio is currently 146.94%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

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

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.