MFA Financial, Inc. $MFA Shares Sold by Teacher Retirement System of Texas

Teacher Retirement System of Texas trimmed its holdings in MFA Financial, Inc. (NYSE:MFA) by 27.9% during the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 28,529 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock after selling 11,063 shares during the quarter. Teacher Retirement System of Texas’ holdings in MFA Financial were worth $270,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of MFA Financial by 0.7% in the 1st quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 10,182,250 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $104,470,000 after buying an additional 70,847 shares during the period. Invesco Ltd. grew its holdings in MFA Financial by 23.3% during the first quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 1,508,456 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $15,477,000 after acquiring an additional 285,344 shares during the period. Natixis Advisors LLC raised its position in MFA Financial by 15.7% during the first quarter. Natixis Advisors LLC now owns 1,085,679 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $11,139,000 after acquiring an additional 147,498 shares in the last quarter. Allianz Asset Management GmbH lifted its holdings in MFA Financial by 17.8% in the first quarter. Allianz Asset Management GmbH now owns 830,830 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $8,524,000 after acquiring an additional 125,328 shares during the period. Finally, Goldman Sachs Group Inc. lifted its holdings in MFA Financial by 16.2% in the first quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. now owns 691,408 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $7,094,000 after acquiring an additional 96,365 shares during the period. 65.28% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

MFA Financial Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE MFA opened at $9.38 on Wednesday. The firm has a fifty day moving average of $9.44 and a 200 day moving average of $9.52. The firm has a market cap of $962.52 million, a PE ratio of 10.78 and a beta of 1.73. MFA Financial, Inc. has a one year low of $7.85 and a one year high of $11.57.

MFA Financial Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, October 31st. Investors of record on Tuesday, September 30th were given a dividend of $0.36 per share. This represents a $1.44 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 15.4%. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, September 30th. MFA Financial’s dividend payout ratio is 169.41%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities research analysts have recently commented on the stock. Wall Street Zen raised shares of MFA Financial from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Monday. Weiss Ratings downgraded shares of MFA Financial from a “hold (c-)” rating to a “sell (d+)” rating in a report on Friday. JMP Securities cut their price objective on shares of MFA Financial from $12.00 to $11.00 and set a “market outperform” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, July 17th. Jones Trading reiterated a “hold” rating on shares of MFA Financial in a research report on Monday, August 11th. Finally, UBS Group reissued a “buy” rating on shares of MFA Financial in a research note on Wednesday, September 3rd. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, three have issued a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $11.10.

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.