Wellington Management Group LLP Trims Stock Position in MFA Financial, Inc. $MFA

Key Points

• Wellington Management Group LLP reduced its holdings in MFA Financial by 48.7%, selling approximately 3.8 million shares, bringing its ownership down to about 3.94%.
• MFA Financial recently declared a quarterly dividend of $0.4688 per share, an increase from the previous dividend of $0.36, resulting in a 18.6% yield.
• Despite missing earnings expectations with $0.24 EPS, MFA Financial reported revenue of $61.28 million, exceeding analysts' predictions of $59.50 million.

Wellington Management Group LLP lessened its holdings in shares of MFA Financial, Inc. (NYSE:MFA - Free Report) by 48.7% during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 4,040,719 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock after selling 3,834,099 shares during the period. Wellington Management Group LLP owned 3.94% of MFA Financial worth $41,458,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of MFA. Wells Fargo & Company MN boosted its holdings in shares of MFA Financial by 19.2% during the 4th quarter. Wells Fargo & Company MN now owns 94,092 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock valued at $959,000 after buying an additional 15,180 shares in the last quarter. Bank of Montreal Can boosted its holdings in shares of MFA Financial by 10.5% during the 4th quarter. Bank of Montreal Can now owns 11,890 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock valued at $121,000 after buying an additional 1,134 shares in the last quarter. Legal & General Group Plc boosted its holdings in shares of MFA Financial by 3.0% during the 4th quarter. Legal & General Group Plc now owns 129,107 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock valued at $1,316,000 after buying an additional 3,704 shares in the last quarter. Raymond James Financial Inc. bought a new stake in shares of MFA Financial during the 4th quarter valued at $633,000. Finally, Sterling Capital Management LLC boosted its holdings in shares of MFA Financial by 823.4% during the 4th quarter. Sterling Capital Management LLC now owns 3,278 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock valued at $33,000 after buying an additional 2,923 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 65.28% of the company's stock.

MFA Financial Trading Up 1.3%

NYSE:MFA traded up $0.14 during mid-day trading on Friday, reaching $10.21. The company's stock had a trading volume of 896,359 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,164,061. MFA Financial, Inc. has a 12-month low of $7.85 and a 12-month high of $13.45. The firm's fifty day moving average price is $9.54 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $9.75. The stock has a market cap of $1.05 billion, a P/E ratio of 11.73 and a beta of 1.64.

MFA Financial (NYSE:MFA - Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, August 6th. The real estate investment trust reported $0.24 earnings per share 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 during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $59.50 million. During the same period last year, the firm posted $0.32 EPS. Analysts predict that MFA Financial, Inc. will post 1.5 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

MFA Financial Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, July 31st. Shareholders of record on Monday, June 30th were given a $0.36 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, June 30th. This represents a $1.44 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 14.1%. MFA Financial's payout ratio is 165.52%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of analysts have recently commented on MFA shares. Royal Bank Of Canada set a $10.00 target price on shares of MFA Financial and gave the company a "sector perform" rating in a report on Wednesday, May 28th. 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 cut shares of MFA Financial from an "outperform" rating to a "market perform" rating and dropped their target price for the company from $12.00 to $10.00 in a report on Thursday, July 10th. Jones Trading restated a "hold" rating on shares of MFA Financial in a report on Monday, August 11th. Finally, UBS Group lifted their price target on MFA Financial from $9.50 to $10.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research report on Thursday, July 10th. Four analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and four have given a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $12.07.

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.