Northern Trust Corp Trims Position in MFA Financial, Inc. $MFA

Key Points

• Northern Trust Corp reduced its stake in MFA Financial by 2.5%, owning approximately 981,697 shares, valued at $10.07 million as of the most recent filing.
• MFA Financial reported an EPS of $0.24 for the last quarter, missing the consensus estimate by $0.05, with net revenue of $61.28 million.
• The company declared a quarterly dividend of $0.36 per share, representing a 13.8% yield, while its dividend payout ratio stands at 165.52%.

Northern Trust Corp decreased its holdings in shares of MFA Financial, Inc. (NYSE:MFA - Free Report) by 2.5% during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The fund owned 981,697 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock after selling 25,145 shares during the quarter. Northern Trust Corp owned 0.96% of MFA Financial worth $10,072,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of MFA. Wedbush Securities Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of MFA Financial by 9.1% in the 1st quarter. Wedbush Securities Inc. now owns 14,347 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock valued at $147,000 after buying an additional 1,199 shares in the last quarter. QRG Capital Management Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of MFA Financial by 6.2% in the 1st quarter. QRG Capital Management Inc. now owns 35,771 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock valued at $367,000 after buying an additional 2,092 shares in the last quarter. Motiv8 Investments LLC boosted its holdings in shares of MFA Financial by 18.9% in the 1st quarter. Motiv8 Investments LLC now owns 14,433 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock valued at $148,000 after buying an additional 2,290 shares in the last quarter. Golden State Wealth Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of MFA Financial in the 1st quarter valued at about $25,000. Finally, Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD boosted its holdings in shares of MFA Financial by 7.5% in the 4th quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 93,754 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock valued at $956,000 after buying an additional 6,556 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 65.28% of the company's stock.

MFA Financial Stock Up 0.1%

Shares of MFA Financial stock traded up $0.01 during midday trading on Thursday, hitting $10.20. The company had a trading volume of 1,355,499 shares, compared to its average volume of 881,602. MFA Financial, Inc. has a 12-month low of $7.85 and a 12-month high of $13.45. The stock has a market cap of $1.05 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 11.72 and a beta of 1.68. The company has a fifty day simple moving average of $9.66 and a 200 day simple moving average of $9.73.

MFA Financial (NYSE:MFA - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings results 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). MFA Financial had a return on equity of 8.61% and a net margin of 17.62%.The business had revenue of $61.28 million for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $59.50 million. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $0.32 earnings per share. As a group, analysts expect that MFA Financial, Inc. will post 1.5 EPS for the current year.

MFA Financial Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, October 31st. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, September 30th will be given a dividend of $0.36 per share. This represents a $1.44 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 14.1%. MFA Financial's dividend payout ratio is presently 165.52%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of analysts have recently weighed in on the stock. JMP Securities lowered their price target 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. Jones Trading reaffirmed a "hold" rating on shares of MFA Financial in a research report on Monday, August 11th. Royal Bank Of Canada set a $10.00 price objective on shares of MFA Financial and gave the company a "sector perform" rating in a research report on Wednesday, May 28th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods lowered shares of MFA Financial from an "outperform" rating to a "market perform" rating and decreased their price objective for the company from $12.00 to $10.00 in a research report on Thursday, July 10th. Finally, UBS Group reaffirmed a "buy" rating on shares of MFA Financial in a research report on Wednesday, September 3rd. Five equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and three have assigned a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, MFA Financial has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $12.14.

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.