LPL Financial LLC Has $3.06 Million Stake in MFA Financial, Inc. $MFA

Key Points

• LPL Financial LLC has increased its ownership in MFA Financial by 27.9%, acquiring an additional 65,058 shares, bringing its total to 297,873 shares valued at approximately $3 million.
• Several hedge funds have also raised their stakes in MFA Financial, with Bank of America and Deutsche Bank increasing their positions significantly in the fourth quarter.
• MFA Financial announced a quarterly dividend of $0.36 per share, resulting in an annualized yield of 14.8%, although the company has a high dividend payout ratio of 165.52%.

LPL Financial LLC lifted its position in MFA Financial, Inc. (NYSE:MFA - Free Report) by 27.9% during the first quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 297,873 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock after acquiring an additional 65,058 shares during the period. LPL Financial LLC owned approximately 0.29% of MFA Financial worth $3,056,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the company. Vaughan Nelson Investment Management L.P. raised its position in shares of MFA Financial by 18.6% in the 1st quarter. Vaughan Nelson Investment Management L.P. now owns 6,030,535 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock valued at $61,874,000 after acquiring an additional 944,608 shares during the period. Balyasny Asset Management L.P. acquired a new stake in MFA Financial during the 4th quarter worth approximately $18,325,000. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. raised its holdings in MFA Financial by 4.6% during the 4th quarter. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. now owns 1,571,831 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock worth $16,017,000 after buying an additional 68,846 shares during the period. Invesco Ltd. raised its holdings in MFA Financial by 16.9% during the 4th quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 1,223,112 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock worth $12,464,000 after buying an additional 177,067 shares during the period. Finally, Northern Trust Corp raised its holdings in MFA Financial by 10.8% during the 4th quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 1,006,842 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock worth $10,260,000 after buying an additional 97,945 shares during the period. 65.28% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several analysts have commented on MFA shares. JMP Securities dropped their target price on shares of MFA Financial from $12.00 to $11.00 and set a "market outperform" rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, July 17th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods downgraded shares of MFA Financial from an "outperform" rating to a "market perform" rating and dropped their target price for the stock from $12.00 to $10.00 in a report on Thursday, July 10th. UBS Group raised their target price on shares of MFA Financial from $9.50 to $10.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a report on Thursday, July 10th. Royal Bank Of Canada set a $10.00 target price on shares of MFA Financial and gave the stock a "sector perform" rating in a report on Wednesday, May 28th. Finally, Jones Trading restated a "hold" rating on shares of MFA Financial in a report on Monday, August 11th. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and four have given a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $12.07.

MFA Financial Trading Down 1.8%

Shares of NYSE MFA traded down $0.1750 during midday trading on Thursday, reaching $9.6850. The company's stock had a trading volume of 652,180 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,283,354. MFA Financial, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $7.85 and a fifty-two week high of $13.45. The stock has a market capitalization of $994.36 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of 11.13 and a beta of 1.64. The stock has a 50 day simple moving average of $9.47 and a 200-day simple moving average of $9.77.

MFA Financial (NYSE:MFA - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, August 6th. The real estate investment trust reported $0.24 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts' consensus estimates of $0.29 by ($0.05). The business had revenue of $61.28 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $59.50 million. MFA Financial had a net margin of 17.62% and a return on equity of 8.61%. During the same quarter last year, the business earned $0.32 earnings per share. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that MFA Financial, Inc. will post 1.5 EPS for the current year.

MFA Financial Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, July 31st. Investors of record on Monday, June 30th were issued a dividend of $0.36 per share. This represents a $1.44 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 14.9%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, June 30th. MFA Financial's payout ratio is presently 165.52%.

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.