MFA Financial, Inc. $MFA Stake Lowered by Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC

Key Points

• Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC has significantly reduced its stake in MFA Financial, Inc. by 55%, leaving them with 25,838 shares after selling 31,523 shares in the second quarter.
• MFA Financial reported $0.24 earnings per share (EPS) for the last quarter, falling short of analysts' expectations by $0.05.
• The company declared a quarterly dividend of $0.36 per share, resulting in an annualized dividend yield of 15.8%, while the dividend payout ratio stands at 165.52%.

Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC cut its holdings in MFA Financial, Inc. (NYSE:MFA - Free Report) by 55.0% in the second quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 25,838 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock after selling 31,523 shares during the period. Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC's holdings in MFA Financial were worth $244,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other large investors have also recently bought and sold shares of MFA. Golden State Wealth Management LLC bought a new stake in MFA Financial in the first quarter worth $25,000. Trust Co. of Vermont bought a new stake in MFA Financial in the second quarter worth $28,000. IFP Advisors Inc boosted its holdings in MFA Financial by 40.7% in the second quarter. IFP Advisors Inc now owns 4,321 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock worth $41,000 after purchasing an additional 1,250 shares in the last quarter. MQS Management LLC bought a new stake in MFA Financial in the first quarter worth $131,000. Finally, EntryPoint Capital LLC bought a new stake in MFA Financial in the first quarter worth $144,000. 65.28% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

MFA has been the subject of a number of recent research reports. Weiss Ratings cut shares of MFA Financial from a "hold (c-)" rating to a "sell (d+)" rating in a report on Wednesday, October 8th. JMP Securities decreased their price objective on shares of MFA Financial from $12.00 to $11.00 and set a "market outperform" rating for the company in a report on Thursday, July 17th. UBS Group restated a "buy" rating on shares of MFA Financial in a report on Wednesday, September 3rd. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods lowered MFA Financial from an "outperform" rating to a "market perform" rating and lowered their target price for the company from $12.00 to $10.00 in a report on Thursday, July 10th. Finally, Jones Trading reissued a "hold" rating on shares of MFA Financial in a research note on Monday, August 11th. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, three have issued a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $11.75.

MFA Financial Stock Performance

Shares of MFA stock opened at $9.11 on Friday. MFA Financial, Inc. has a 52-week low of $7.85 and a 52-week high of $12.75. The stock has a market cap of $934.81 million, a PE ratio of 10.47 and a beta of 1.70. The firm's 50 day moving average price is $9.66 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $9.49.

MFA Financial (NYSE:MFA - Get Free Report) last announced 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). MFA Financial had a net margin of 17.62% and a return on equity of 8.61%. The business had revenue of $61.28 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $59.50 million. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted $0.32 earnings per share. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that MFA Financial, Inc. will post 1.5 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

MFA Financial Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, October 31st. Stockholders 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 dividend yield of 15.8%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, September 30th. MFA Financial's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 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.

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