Wellington Management Group LLP Sells 3,130,320 Shares of MFA Financial, Inc. (NYSE:MFA)

Wellington Management Group LLP reduced its stake in MFA Financial, Inc. (NYSE:MFA - Free Report) by 28.4% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 7,874,818 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock after selling 3,130,320 shares during the quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP owned 7.68% of MFA Financial worth $80,244,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. grew its position in shares of MFA Financial by 3.3% during the 4th 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 purchasing an additional 60,261 shares in the last quarter. Barclays PLC increased its position in 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 acquiring an additional 337,142 shares during the period. Deutsche Bank AG increased its position in MFA Financial by 50.5% in the 4th quarter. Deutsche Bank AG now owns 84,502 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock valued at $861,000 after acquiring an additional 28,348 shares during the period. Invesco Ltd. increased its position in 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 valued at $12,464,000 after acquiring an additional 177,067 shares during the period. Finally, Northern Trust Corp increased its position in shares of MFA Financial by 10.8% during the fourth 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 period. 65.28% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

MFA Financial Price Performance

MFA stock traded down $0.08 during trading on Monday, hitting $9.23. 958,595 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 1,041,802. MFA Financial, Inc. has a 1 year low of $7.85 and a 1 year high of $13.45. The firm's 50 day moving average is $9.45 and its two-hundred day moving average is $10.18. The stock has a market cap of $946.97 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of 11.39 and a beta of 1.69.

MFA Financial (NYSE:MFA - Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results on Tuesday, May 6th. The real estate investment trust reported $0.29 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.33 by ($0.04). MFA Financial had a net margin of 16.47% and a return on equity of 9.61%. The company 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 company posted $0.35 EPS. As a group, analysts anticipate that MFA Financial, Inc. will post 1.5 EPS for the current fiscal year.

MFA Financial Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, April 30th. Shareholders of record on Monday, March 31st were issued a dividend of $0.36 per share. This is a positive change from MFA Financial's previous quarterly dividend of $0.35. This represents a $1.44 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 15.61%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, March 31st. MFA Financial's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 146.94%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities research analysts have commented on MFA shares. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods reduced their price target 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. Wall Street Zen lowered shares of 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 target price on shares of MFA Financial and gave the stock a "sector perform" rating in a research note on Wednesday, May 28th. Finally, JMP Securities reduced their target price on shares of MFA Financial from $12.50 to $12.00 and set a "market outperform" rating for the company 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 company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat, MFA Financial presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $12.92.

About MFA Financial

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.