MFA Financial, Inc. (NYSE:MFA) Shares Sold by Teacher Retirement System of Texas

Teacher Retirement System of Texas cut its holdings in MFA Financial, Inc. (NYSE:MFA - Free Report) by 78.9% during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 39,592 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock after selling 148,423 shares during the quarter. Teacher Retirement System of Texas' holdings in MFA Financial were worth $406,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. increased its stake in MFA Financial by 3.3% during the fourth quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 1,895,670 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock worth $19,317,000 after acquiring an additional 60,261 shares during the last quarter. Bank of America Corp DE grew its stake in MFA Financial by 31.2% during the 4th quarter. Bank of America Corp DE now owns 124,317 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock valued at $1,267,000 after purchasing an additional 29,584 shares in the last quarter. Deutsche Bank AG lifted its holdings in MFA Financial by 50.5% during the 4th quarter. Deutsche Bank AG now owns 84,502 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock worth $861,000 after buying an additional 28,348 shares during the last quarter. Invesco Ltd. lifted 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 last quarter. Finally, Northern Trust Corp lifted 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 last quarter. 65.28% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

MFA Financial Price Performance

Shares of MFA opened at $9.29 on Friday. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $9.52 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $9.89. The company has a market cap of $953.11 million, a P/E ratio of 9.47 and a beta of 1.63. MFA Financial, Inc. has a one year low of $7.85 and a one year high of $13.45.

MFA Financial (NYSE:MFA - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, May 6th. The real estate investment trust reported $0.29 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts' consensus estimates of $0.33 by ($0.04). The firm had revenue of $57.54 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $48.80 million. MFA Financial had a net margin of 18.86% and a return on equity of 9.44%. During the same period last year, the company posted $0.35 EPS. On average, analysts expect that MFA Financial, Inc. will post 1.5 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

MFA Financial Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, July 31st. Shareholders of record on Monday, June 30th will be paid a $0.36 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Monday, June 30th. This represents a $1.44 annualized dividend and a yield of 15.51%. MFA Financial's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 146.94%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

MFA has been the topic of several analyst reports. Royal Bank Of Canada set a $10.00 target price on MFA Financial and gave the company a "sector perform" rating in a research report on Wednesday, May 28th. Jones Trading upgraded MFA Financial to a "hold" rating in a report on Monday, July 7th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods downgraded 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 research note on Thursday, July 10th. Wall Street Zen downgraded MFA Financial from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Friday, March 28th. Finally, UBS Group boosted their price objective on MFA Financial from $9.50 to $10.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research report on Thursday, July 10th. Five research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and four have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, MFA Financial has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price 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.

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