MFA Financial, Inc. (NYSE:MFA) Shares Acquired by First Trust Advisors LP

First Trust Advisors LP raised its position in MFA Financial, Inc. (NYSE:MFA - Free Report) by 531.6% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 794,394 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock after purchasing an additional 668,618 shares during the period. First Trust Advisors LP owned 0.78% of MFA Financial worth $8,095,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in MFA. Vaughan Nelson Investment Management L.P. lifted its position in MFA Financial by 11.0% during the fourth 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 buying an additional 502,840 shares in the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. raised 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 purchasing an additional 60,261 shares during the period. Invesco Ltd. boosted its holdings 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 purchasing an additional 177,067 shares during the last quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased its holdings in shares of MFA Financial by 2.3% during the 3rd quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 1,081,225 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock worth $13,753,000 after buying an additional 23,852 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Natixis Advisors LLC grew its position in MFA Financial by 4.4% in the fourth quarter. Natixis Advisors LLC now owns 938,181 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock worth $9,560,000 after acquiring an additional 39,969 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 65.28% of the company's stock.

MFA Financial Stock Down 0.5 %

MFA Financial stock traded down $0.05 during mid-day trading on Monday, reaching $9.93. 114,130 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 986,372. MFA Financial, Inc. has a twelve month low of $7.85 and a twelve month high of $13.45. The company has a fifty day moving average of $9.97 and a 200-day moving average of $10.53. The company has a market cap of $1.02 billion, a P/E ratio of 12.25 and a beta of 1.69.

MFA Financial (NYSE:MFA - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, February 19th. The real estate investment trust reported $0.38 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.40 by ($0.02). The company had revenue of $50.80 million during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $58.06 million. MFA Financial had a net margin of 16.47% and a return on equity of 9.61%. Equities research analysts expect that MFA Financial, Inc. will post 1.5 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

MFA Financial Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, April 30th. Stockholders of record on Monday, March 31st were issued a $0.36 dividend. This represents a $1.44 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 14.51%. This is a positive change from MFA Financial's previous quarterly dividend of $0.35. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, March 31st. MFA Financial's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 177.78%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several brokerages have recently commented on MFA. StockNews.com lowered MFA Financial from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Friday, March 28th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods lowered their price objective on shares of MFA Financial from $13.50 to $12.50 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, February 20th. Finally, JMP Securities lowered their price target on MFA Financial from $12.50 to $12.00 and set a "market outperform" rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, April 17th. One analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating and five have given a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, MFA Financial has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $13.60.

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.