Two Sigma Advisers LP Has $1.11 Million Stock Holdings in MFA Financial, Inc. (NYSE:MFA)

Two Sigma Advisers LP trimmed its position in MFA Financial, Inc. (NYSE:MFA - Free Report) by 60.2% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 108,800 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock after selling 164,900 shares during the quarter. Two Sigma Advisers LP owned approximately 0.11% of MFA Financial worth $1,109,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of MFA. Balyasny Asset Management L.P. acquired a new position in MFA Financial in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $18,325,000. First Trust Advisors LP lifted its position 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 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 in the last quarter. Norges Bank acquired a new position in shares of MFA Financial in the 4th quarter valued at $3,564,000. Finally, Barclays PLC grew its position 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 owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of analysts have recently commented on MFA shares. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods cut 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 report on Friday, March 28th. Royal Bank of Canada set a $10.00 price objective on MFA Financial and gave the company a "sector perform" rating in a research note on Wednesday, May 28th. Finally, JMP Securities lowered their target price on shares of MFA Financial from $12.50 to $12.00 and set a "market outperform" rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, April 17th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and five have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $12.92.

MFA Financial Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE:MFA traded up $0.11 during trading on Wednesday, reaching $9.47. The company had a trading volume of 625,269 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,046,116. The firm's fifty day moving average is $9.42 and its 200 day moving average is $10.17. The firm has a market capitalization of $972.12 million, a PE ratio of 11.69 and a beta of 1.69. MFA Financial, Inc. has a twelve month low of $7.85 and a twelve month high of $13.45.

MFA Financial (NYSE:MFA - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings results 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). The business had revenue of $57.54 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $48.80 million. MFA Financial had a net margin of 16.47% and a return on equity of 9.61%. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $0.35 earnings per share. Equities analysts predict that MFA Financial, Inc. will post 1.5 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

MFA Financial Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, April 30th. Stockholders of record on Monday, March 31st were issued a $0.36 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, March 31st. This is a boost from MFA Financial's previous quarterly dividend of $0.35. This represents a $1.44 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 15.21%. MFA Financial's dividend payout ratio is presently 146.94%.

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.