Millennium Management LLC Lowers Stock Position in MFA Financial, Inc. (NYSE:MFA)

Millennium Management LLC cut its holdings in MFA Financial, Inc. (NYSE:MFA - Free Report) by 89.4% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 72,224 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock after selling 607,619 shares during the period. Millennium Management LLC owned about 0.07% of MFA Financial worth $736,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of MFA. Balyasny Asset Management L.P. bought a new position in MFA Financial during the fourth quarter valued at $18,325,000. First Trust Advisors LP grew its stake in shares of MFA Financial by 531.6% during 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 period. Vaughan Nelson Investment Management L.P. increased its holdings in 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 worth $51,824,000 after acquiring an additional 502,840 shares during the last quarter. Norges Bank bought a new stake in MFA Financial in the 4th quarter valued at about $3,564,000. Finally, Barclays PLC lifted its holdings in MFA Financial by 902.9% during the third quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 374,481 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock valued at $4,764,000 after purchasing an additional 337,142 shares during the last quarter. 65.28% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

MFA Financial Stock Performance

Shares of MFA stock traded up $0.11 on Tuesday, reaching $9.66. The stock had a trading volume of 817,330 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,054,473. 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 $991.32 million, a P/E ratio of 11.92 and a beta of 1.66. The company has a 50 day simple moving average of $9.34 and a 200 day simple moving average of $10.12.

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

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities analysts have recently weighed in on the stock. Wall Street Zen downgraded shares of MFA Financial from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Friday, March 28th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods lowered their target price on shares of MFA Financial from $12.50 to $12.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a report on Thursday, May 8th. Royal Bank of Canada set a $10.00 price target on shares of MFA Financial and gave the company a "sector perform" rating in a research report on Wednesday, May 28th. Finally, JMP Securities reduced their target price on MFA Financial from $12.50 to $12.00 and set a "market outperform" rating for the company in a report on Thursday, April 17th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and five have given a buy rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, MFA Financial presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $12.92.

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.