MFA Financial, Inc. $MFA Shares Sold by Franklin Resources Inc.

Franklin Resources Inc. lowered its position in shares of MFA Financial, Inc. (NYSE:MFA) by 2.2% in the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The fund owned 430,218 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock after selling 9,812 shares during the period. Franklin Resources Inc. owned 0.42% of MFA Financial worth $4,070,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Other hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Trust Co. of Vermont bought a new position in MFA Financial in the 2nd quarter worth about $28,000. IFP Advisors Inc boosted its position in shares of MFA Financial by 40.7% during the second quarter. IFP Advisors Inc now owns 4,321 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $41,000 after buying an additional 1,250 shares during the period. Huntington National Bank grew its holdings in MFA Financial by 58.6% in the 2nd quarter. Huntington National Bank now owns 5,790 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $55,000 after buying an additional 2,139 shares in the last quarter. Mutual Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in MFA Financial in the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $96,000. Finally, Arkadios Wealth Advisors acquired a new stake in MFA Financial in the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $99,000. 65.28% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of brokerages have issued reports on MFA. Jones Trading reiterated a “hold” rating on shares of MFA Financial in a research report on Monday, August 11th. UBS Group reduced their price objective on shares of MFA Financial from $10.50 to $10.25 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, November 18th. Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of MFA Financial from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Monday, November 10th. Finally, Weiss Ratings reissued a “hold (c-)” rating on shares of MFA Financial in a research note on Tuesday, November 25th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and four have assigned a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $11.05.

MFA Financial Stock Down 0.9%

Shares of MFA stock opened at $9.54 on Tuesday. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $9.22 and a 200 day simple moving average of $9.48. The stock has a market capitalization of $974.44 million, a P/E ratio of 10.96 and a beta of 1.73. MFA Financial, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $7.85 and a fifty-two week high of $11.19.

MFA Financial (NYSE:MFA) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, November 6th. The real estate investment trust reported $0.20 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.30 by ($0.10). The business had revenue of $101.03 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $57.40 million. MFA Financial had a net margin of 17.62% and a return on equity of 8.61%. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $0.37 earnings per share. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that MFA Financial, Inc. will post 1.5 earnings per share for the current year.

MFA Financial Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, October 31st. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, September 30th were given a $0.36 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, September 30th. This represents a $1.44 annualized dividend and a yield of 15.1%. MFA Financial’s payout ratio is 169.41%.

MFA Financial 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.