Teacher Retirement System of Texas Purchases 82,039 Shares of MFA Financial, Inc. (NYSE:MFA)

Teacher Retirement System of Texas boosted its holdings in MFA Financial, Inc. (NYSE:MFA) by 77.4% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 188,015 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock after acquiring an additional 82,039 shares during the quarter. Teacher Retirement System of Texas’ holdings in MFA Financial were worth $1,916,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in MFA. Barclays PLC raised its stake in shares of MFA Financial by 902.9% in the third quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 374,481 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $4,764,000 after purchasing an additional 337,142 shares during the last quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC lifted its stake in MFA Financial by 74.9% during the 3rd quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC now owns 157,481 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $2,003,000 after acquiring an additional 67,449 shares during the period. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. boosted its holdings 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 valued at $19,317,000 after acquiring an additional 60,261 shares during the last quarter. Kingswood Wealth Advisors LLC bought a new stake in shares of MFA Financial in the fourth quarter worth approximately $428,000. Finally, Geode Capital Management LLC raised its holdings in shares of 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 purchasing an additional 21,331 shares during the last quarter. 65.28% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

MFA Financial Price Performance

Shares of MFA stock opened at $10.74 on Friday. The company has a market cap of $1.10 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 13.26 and a beta of 2.18. MFA Financial, Inc. has a 1 year low of $9.36 and a 1 year high of $13.45. The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $10.57 and a 200-day moving average price of $11.18.

MFA Financial (NYSE:MFA) last released its quarterly 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 net margin of 16.47% and a return on equity of 9.61%. The company had revenue of $50.80 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $58.06 million. Equities research analysts expect that MFA Financial, Inc. will post 1.5 EPS for the current year.

MFA Financial Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, April 30th. Investors of record on Monday, March 31st will be issued a $0.36 dividend. This represents a $1.44 annualized dividend and a yield of 13.40%. This is a positive change from MFA Financial’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.35. The ex-dividend date is Monday, March 31st. MFA Financial’s dividend payout ratio is currently 177.78%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities research analysts recently issued reports on the stock. JMP Securities dropped their target price 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. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods cut their price objective on MFA Financial from $13.50 to $12.50 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, February 20th. Janney Montgomery Scott assumed coverage on MFA Financial in a report on Thursday, January 2nd. They issued a “buy” rating and a $14.00 target price on the stock. Finally, StockNews.com cut MFA Financial from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday. One research analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating and five have given a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $13.70.

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.