Brevan Howard Capital Management LP Buys Shares of 31,712 MFA Financial, Inc. (NYSE:MFA)

Brevan Howard Capital Management LP purchased a new position in MFA Financial, Inc. (NYSE:MFA) in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund purchased 31,712 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock, valued at approximately $323,000.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the stock. National Bank of Canada FI acquired a new position in MFA Financial in the 4th quarter valued at about $27,000. Sterling Capital Management LLC boosted its stake 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 worth $33,000 after purchasing an additional 2,923 shares during the last quarter. Quarry LP purchased a new stake in shares of MFA Financial during the fourth quarter worth about $36,000. Parkside Financial Bank & Trust acquired a new position in shares of MFA Financial in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $46,000. Finally, Strategic Financial Concepts LLC purchased a new position in shares of MFA Financial during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $104,000. 65.28% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

MFA Financial Stock Performance

Shares of MFA Financial stock opened at $9.47 on Friday. The business’s fifty day moving average price is $9.86 and its 200 day moving average price is $10.45. MFA Financial, Inc. has a twelve month low of $7.85 and a twelve month high of $13.45. The stock has a market capitalization of $972.12 million, a P/E ratio of 11.69 and a beta of 1.69.

MFA Financial (NYSE:MFA) last issued its earnings results on Tuesday, May 6th. The real estate investment trust reported $0.29 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.33 by ($0.04). The firm had revenue of $57.54 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $48.80 million. MFA Financial had a return on equity of 9.61% and a net margin of 16.47%. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $0.35 EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that MFA Financial, Inc. will post 1.5 EPS for the current year.

MFA Financial Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, April 30th. Stockholders of record on Monday, March 31st were paid a $0.36 dividend. This represents a $1.44 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 15.21%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, March 31st. This is an increase from MFA Financial’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.35. MFA Financial’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 146.94%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

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

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.