Prudential Financial Inc. Has $7.41 Million Position in MFA Financial, Inc. (NYSE:MFA)

Prudential Financial Inc. lowered its stake in shares of MFA Financial, Inc. (NYSE:MFA - Free Report) by 14.9% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 726,800 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock after selling 126,900 shares during the period. Prudential Financial Inc. owned about 0.71% of MFA Financial worth $7,406,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the stock. Wellington Management Group LLP increased its position in MFA Financial by 1.0% in the 3rd quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 11,005,138 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock worth $139,985,000 after purchasing an additional 111,331 shares during the last quarter. Vaughan Nelson Investment Management L.P. increased its stake in shares of MFA Financial by 11.0% during the 4th quarter. Vaughan Nelson Investment Management L.P. now owns 5,085,927 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock worth $51,824,000 after purchasing an additional 502,840 shares during the last quarter. State Street Corp raised its holdings in shares of MFA Financial by 6.2% during the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 2,579,818 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock valued at $33,700,000 after purchasing an additional 151,321 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its stake in shares of MFA Financial by 0.9% in the 3rd 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. Finally, Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. lifted its stake in shares of MFA Financial by 3.3% in 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 purchasing an additional 60,261 shares during the last quarter. 65.28% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research firms have recently issued reports on MFA. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods decreased their price target on MFA Financial from $13.50 to $12.50 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, February 20th. StockNews.com lowered MFA Financial from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Friday. Janney Montgomery Scott began coverage on MFA Financial in a research note on Thursday, January 2nd. They set a "buy" rating and a $14.00 target price for the company. Finally, JMP Securities lowered their target price on MFA Financial from $13.50 to $12.50 and set a "market outperform" rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, January 23rd. One research analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating and five have given a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $13.70.

MFA Financial Price Performance

Shares of NYSE MFA traded up $0.11 during mid-day trading on Tuesday, hitting $10.37. The company had a trading volume of 981,141 shares, compared to its average volume of 844,494. MFA Financial, Inc. has a 12 month low of $9.36 and a 12 month high of $13.45. The firm has a market cap of $1.06 billion, a P/E ratio of 12.80 and a beta of 2.18. The business's 50-day simple moving average is $10.58 and its 200-day simple moving average is $11.13.

MFA Financial (NYSE:MFA - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, February 19th. The real estate investment trust reported $0.38 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts' consensus estimates of $0.40 by ($0.02). The firm had revenue of $50.80 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $58.06 million. MFA Financial had a return on equity of 9.61% and a net margin of 16.47%. 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 will be paid on Wednesday, April 30th. Investors of record on Monday, March 31st will be paid a $0.36 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Monday, March 31st. This represents a $1.44 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 13.89%. This is a boost from MFA Financial's previous quarterly dividend of $0.35. MFA Financial's payout ratio is presently 177.78%.

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.