Wolverine Asset Management LLC Purchases New Shares in MFA Financial, Inc. (NYSE:MFA)

Wolverine Asset Management LLC purchased a new stake in shares of MFA Financial, Inc. (NYSE:MFA) during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor purchased 10,818 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock, valued at approximately $110,000.

A number of other hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of the business. Wellington Management Group LLP increased its position in MFA Financial by 1.0% during the third quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 11,005,138 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $139,985,000 after acquiring an additional 111,331 shares during the last quarter. Vaughan Nelson Investment Management L.P. increased 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 valued at $51,824,000 after acquiring an additional 502,840 shares during the last quarter. State Street Corp increased its position in MFA Financial by 6.2% during the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 2,579,818 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $33,700,000 after acquiring an additional 151,321 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC increased its position in MFA Financial by 0.9% during the third quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 2,407,455 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $30,629,000 after acquiring an additional 21,331 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. increased its position in MFA Financial by 0.7% during the third quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 1,835,409 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $23,346,000 after acquiring an additional 12,071 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 65.28% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

MFA has been the topic of a number of research analyst reports. Janney Montgomery Scott initiated coverage on shares of MFA Financial in a report on Thursday, January 2nd. They issued a “buy” rating and a $14.00 price target on the stock. StockNews.com cut shares of MFA Financial from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Thursday, November 7th. Wedbush restated an “outperform” rating and issued a $15.00 price target on shares of MFA Financial in a report on Thursday, November 7th. JMP Securities cut their price target on shares of MFA Financial from $13.50 to $12.50 and set a “market outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, January 23rd. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods cut their price target on shares of MFA Financial from $13.50 to $12.50 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, February 20th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating and five have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $13.70.

MFA Financial Price Performance

Shares of MFA Financial stock opened at $10.32 on Tuesday. MFA Financial, Inc. has a 1 year low of $9.36 and a 1 year high of $13.45. The firm’s 50-day moving average is $10.32 and its two-hundred day moving average is $11.38. The stock has a market cap of $1.06 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 12.73 and a beta of 2.11.

MFA Financial (NYSE:MFA) last issued its earnings results 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). MFA Financial had a return on equity of 9.61% and a net margin of 16.47%. The business had revenue of $50.80 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $58.06 million. On average, equities analysts expect that MFA Financial, Inc. will post 1.5 earnings per share for the current year.

MFA Financial Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, January 31st. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, December 31st were given a dividend of $0.35 per share. This represents a $1.40 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 13.57%. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, December 31st. MFA Financial’s payout ratio is 172.84%.

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.