Deutsche Bank AG Raises Holdings in MFA Financial, Inc. (NYSE:MFA)

Deutsche Bank AG raised its stake in shares of MFA Financial, Inc. (NYSE:MFA - Free Report) by 50.5% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 84,502 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock after buying an additional 28,348 shares during the quarter. Deutsche Bank AG owned about 0.08% of MFA Financial worth $861,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. Balyasny Asset Management L.P. acquired a new position in MFA Financial during the 4th quarter worth approximately $18,325,000. First Trust Advisors LP boosted its holdings in shares of MFA Financial by 531.6% in the 4th quarter. First Trust Advisors LP now owns 794,394 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock valued at $8,095,000 after buying an additional 668,618 shares during the last quarter. Vaughan Nelson Investment Management L.P. boosted its holdings in shares of MFA Financial by 11.0% in the 4th quarter. Vaughan Nelson Investment Management L.P. now owns 5,085,927 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock valued at $51,824,000 after buying an additional 502,840 shares during the last quarter. Norges Bank acquired a new stake in shares of MFA Financial in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $3,564,000. Finally, Barclays PLC boosted its holdings 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 valued at $4,764,000 after buying an additional 337,142 shares during the last quarter. 65.28% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

MFA Financial Stock Down 1.7%

MFA stock traded down $0.16 during midday trading on Friday, hitting $9.31. The company's stock had a trading volume of 1,071,855 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,042,134. The stock's 50-day moving average price is $9.48 and its 200 day moving average price is $10.20. MFA Financial, Inc. has a 1 year low of $7.85 and a 1 year high of $13.45. The stock has a market cap of $955.70 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of 11.49 and a beta of 1.69.

MFA Financial (NYSE:MFA - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, May 6th. The real estate investment trust reported $0.29 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.33 by ($0.04). MFA Financial had a return on equity of 9.61% and a net margin of 16.47%. The business had revenue of $57.54 million during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $48.80 million. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $0.35 EPS. As a group, equities analysts forecast that MFA Financial, Inc. will post 1.5 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

MFA Financial Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, April 30th. Stockholders of record on Monday, March 31st were given a dividend of $0.36 per share. This represents a $1.44 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 15.47%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, March 31st. This is a boost from MFA Financial's previous quarterly dividend of $0.35. MFA Financial's dividend payout ratio is currently 146.94%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research firms recently weighed in on MFA. Royal Bank of Canada set a $10.00 price target on MFA Financial and gave the company a "sector perform" rating in a research note on Wednesday. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods decreased their target price on MFA Financial from $12.50 to $12.00 and set an "outperform" rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, May 8th. Wall Street Zen lowered MFA Financial from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Friday, March 28th. Finally, JMP Securities cut 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. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and five have issued a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $12.92.

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.