33,525 Shares in MFA Financial, Inc. (NYSE:MFA) Acquired by Mercer Global Advisors Inc. ADV

Mercer Global Advisors Inc. ADV acquired a new position in MFA Financial, Inc. (NYSE:MFA) in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The fund acquired 33,525 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock, valued at approximately $342,000.

Other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. National Bank of Canada FI bought a new position in MFA Financial in the 4th quarter worth approximately $27,000. Sterling Capital Management LLC raised its position in shares of MFA Financial by 823.4% during the 4th quarter. Sterling Capital Management LLC now owns 3,278 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $33,000 after acquiring an additional 2,923 shares during the last quarter. Quarry LP bought a new stake in shares of MFA Financial during the 4th quarter valued at $36,000. Parkside Financial Bank & Trust bought a new stake in shares of MFA Financial during the 4th quarter valued at $46,000. Finally, Strategic Financial Concepts LLC bought a new stake in shares of MFA Financial during the 4th quarter valued at $104,000. Institutional investors own 65.28% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several analysts have commented on MFA shares. StockNews.com cut shares of MFA Financial from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, March 28th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods dropped their target price on shares of MFA Financial from $12.50 to $12.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, May 8th. Finally, JMP Securities dropped 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 report on Thursday, April 17th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating and five have given a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, MFA Financial currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $13.50.

MFA Financial Stock Down 0.4%

Shares of MFA stock opened at $9.56 on Thursday. MFA Financial, Inc. has a 12-month low of $7.85 and a 12-month high of $13.45. The firm has a market capitalization of $981.36 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of 11.80 and a beta of 1.69. The firm has a fifty day moving average of $9.82 and a 200-day moving average of $10.41.

MFA Financial (NYSE:MFA) last announced its quarterly 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 firm had revenue of $57.54 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $48.80 million. During the same period last year, the firm earned $0.35 EPS. Research analysts expect that MFA Financial, Inc. will post 1.5 earnings per share for the current year.

MFA Financial Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, April 30th. Investors of record on Monday, March 31st were paid a $0.36 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, March 31st. 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 15.06%. 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.