33,679 Shares in MFA Financial, Inc. (NYSE:MFA) Bought by QRG Capital Management Inc.

QRG Capital Management Inc. purchased a new stake in MFA Financial, Inc. (NYSE:MFA - Free Report) during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor purchased 33,679 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock, valued at approximately $343,000.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Barclays PLC boosted its stake in 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 in the last quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC lifted its position 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 worth $2,003,000 after buying an additional 67,449 shares in the last quarter. Vaughan Nelson Investment Management L.P. grew its holdings in MFA Financial by 35.4% during the 3rd quarter. Vaughan Nelson Investment Management L.P. now owns 4,583,087 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock worth $58,297,000 after acquiring an additional 1,197,220 shares during the last quarter. Kingswood Wealth Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in MFA Financial in the 4th quarter valued at about $428,000. Finally, Geode Capital Management LLC raised its stake in shares of MFA Financial by 0.9% in the third quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 2,407,455 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock worth $30,629,000 after acquiring an additional 21,331 shares during the last quarter. 65.28% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

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MFA Financial Price Performance

Shares of MFA stock traded down $0.04 during trading hours on Monday, reaching $10.89. The company had a trading volume of 1,245,616 shares, compared to its average volume of 800,364. MFA Financial, Inc. has a 1-year low of $9.36 and a 1-year high of $13.45. The firm has a market cap of $1.12 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 13.44 and a beta of 2.18. The company has a 50 day moving average of $10.34 and a 200 day moving average of $11.31.

MFA Financial (NYSE:MFA - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, February 19th. The real estate investment trust reported $0.38 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.40 by ($0.02). The company had revenue of $50.80 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $58.06 million. MFA Financial had a net margin of 16.47% and a return on equity of 9.61%. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that MFA Financial, Inc. will post 1.5 EPS for the current fiscal year.

MFA Financial Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, April 30th. Investors of record on Monday, March 31st will be issued a dividend of $0.36 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, March 31st. This represents a $1.44 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 13.23%. This is a boost from MFA Financial's previous quarterly dividend of $0.35. MFA Financial's payout ratio is currently 177.78%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of analysts recently weighed in on the stock. Janney Montgomery Scott began coverage on shares of MFA Financial in a report on Thursday, January 2nd. They issued a "buy" rating and a $14.00 price target for the company. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods dropped their target price on MFA Financial from $13.50 to $12.50 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, February 20th. Finally, JMP Securities decreased their price target 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 equities research analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating and five have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, MFA Financial has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $13.70.

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.