Teacher Retirement System of Texas Cuts Stock Position in MFA Financial, Inc. (NYSE:MFA)

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

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in MFA. Balyasny Asset Management L.P. purchased a new position in shares of MFA Financial in the 4th quarter worth $18,325,000. Vaughan Nelson Investment Management L.P. lifted its holdings in shares of MFA Financial by 18.6% in the 1st quarter. Vaughan Nelson Investment Management L.P. now owns 6,030,535 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock worth $61,874,000 after acquiring an additional 944,608 shares during the last quarter. First Trust Advisors LP lifted 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 worth $8,095,000 after acquiring an additional 668,618 shares during the last quarter. Norges Bank bought a new stake in shares of MFA Financial in the 4th quarter worth about $3,564,000. Finally, Invesco Ltd. lifted its holdings in shares of MFA Financial by 16.9% in the 4th quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 1,223,112 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock worth $12,464,000 after acquiring an additional 177,067 shares during the last quarter. 65.28% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

MFA Financial Stock Up 0.7%

MFA traded up $0.07 on Monday, reaching $9.27. 762,301 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 1,124,426. MFA Financial, Inc. has a one year low of $7.85 and a one year high of $13.45. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $9.52 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $9.88. The company has a market cap of $951.05 million, a P/E ratio of 9.45 and a beta of 1.63.

MFA Financial (NYSE:MFA - Get Free Report) last posted its 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 business had revenue of $57.54 million for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations 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 business posted $0.35 EPS. On average, equities analysts forecast that MFA Financial, Inc. will post 1.5 earnings per share for the current year.

MFA Financial Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, July 31st. Shareholders of record on Monday, June 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 15.54%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, June 30th. MFA Financial's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 146.94%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

MFA has been the subject of several analyst reports. UBS Group raised their target price on shares of MFA Financial from $9.50 to $10.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a report on Thursday, July 10th. Royal Bank Of Canada set a $10.00 target price on shares of MFA Financial and gave the stock a "sector perform" rating in a report on Wednesday, May 28th. Wall Street Zen lowered shares of MFA Financial from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Friday, March 28th. Jones Trading upgraded shares of MFA Financial to a "hold" rating in a report on Monday, July 7th. Finally, 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. Five equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and four have issued a buy rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $12.07.

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.