62,136 Shares in MFA Financial, Inc. (NYSE:MFA) Acquired by Raymond James Financial Inc.

Raymond James Financial Inc. acquired a new stake in MFA Financial, Inc. (NYSE:MFA) in the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The institutional investor acquired 62,136 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock, valued at approximately $633,000.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of MFA. Zacks Investment Management increased its stake in shares of MFA Financial by 12.7% in the third quarter. Zacks Investment Management now owns 11,377 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $145,000 after buying an additional 1,281 shares in the last quarter. Rhumbline Advisers increased its position in MFA Financial by 1.4% in the 4th quarter. Rhumbline Advisers now owns 166,046 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $1,692,000 after acquiring an additional 2,287 shares in the last quarter. Parkside Financial Bank & Trust bought a new position in shares of MFA Financial in the fourth quarter worth about $46,000. Inspire Investing LLC raised its stake in shares of MFA Financial by 22.3% in the fourth quarter. Inspire Investing LLC now owns 39,594 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $403,000 after acquiring an additional 7,220 shares during the last quarter. Finally, SG Americas Securities LLC lifted its position in shares of MFA Financial by 31.9% during the fourth quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC now owns 40,681 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $415,000 after purchasing an additional 9,836 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 65.28% of the company’s stock.

MFA Financial Stock Down 5.4 %

Shares of MFA Financial stock opened at $9.59 on Monday. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $10.58 and a 200 day simple moving average of $11.05. The stock has a market cap of $982.69 million, a PE ratio of 11.83 and a beta of 1.61. MFA Financial, Inc. has a 12 month low of $9.36 and a 12 month high of $13.45.

MFA Financial (NYSE:MFA) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, February 19th. The real estate investment trust reported $0.38 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.40 by ($0.02). The company had revenue of $50.80 million for 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%. Analysts expect that MFA Financial, Inc. will post 1.5 EPS for the current fiscal year.

MFA Financial Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, April 30th. Shareholders of record on Monday, March 31st will be paid a $0.36 dividend. This represents a $1.44 annualized dividend and a yield of 15.02%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, March 31st. This is an increase from MFA Financial’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.35. MFA Financial’s dividend payout ratio is presently 177.78%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of analysts recently weighed in on the stock. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods lowered their price target on shares of MFA Financial from $13.50 to $12.50 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, February 20th. StockNews.com downgraded MFA Financial from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, March 28th. Janney Montgomery Scott assumed coverage on MFA Financial in a report on Thursday, January 2nd. They issued a “buy” rating and a $14.00 price target on the stock. Finally, JMP Securities dropped their price objective on MFA Financial from $13.50 to $12.50 and set a “market outperform” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, January 23rd. One analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating and five have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, MFA Financial currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus 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.