Inspire Investing LLC Has $392,000 Stock Holdings in MFA Financial, Inc. $MFA

Inspire Investing LLC increased its holdings in shares of MFA Financial, Inc. (NYSE:MFA) by 24.1% in the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The fund owned 41,464 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock after purchasing an additional 8,041 shares during the period. Inspire Investing LLC’s holdings in MFA Financial were worth $392,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other large investors have also made changes to their positions in MFA. Golden State Wealth Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of MFA Financial during the 1st quarter worth about $25,000. Trust Co. of Vermont acquired a new position in shares of MFA Financial during the 2nd quarter worth about $28,000. IFP Advisors Inc lifted its position in shares of MFA Financial by 40.7% during the 2nd quarter. IFP Advisors Inc now owns 4,321 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $41,000 after purchasing an additional 1,250 shares during the last quarter. MQS Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of MFA Financial during the 1st quarter worth about $131,000. Finally, EntryPoint Capital LLC acquired a new position in shares of MFA Financial during the 1st quarter worth about $144,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 65.28% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities analysts have commented on the company. Weiss Ratings cut MFA Financial from a “hold (c-)” rating to a “sell (d+)” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 8th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods cut MFA Financial from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating and cut their price target for the company from $12.00 to $10.00 in a report on Thursday, July 10th. Jones Trading reaffirmed a “hold” rating on shares of MFA Financial in a report on Monday, August 11th. JMP Securities cut their price target on MFA Financial from $12.00 to $11.00 and set a “market outperform” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, July 17th. Finally, UBS Group reaffirmed a “buy” rating on shares of MFA Financial in a report on Wednesday, September 3rd. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, three have given a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, MFA Financial currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $11.75.

MFA Financial Trading Up 0.3%

Shares of MFA opened at $9.14 on Tuesday. MFA Financial, Inc. has a 1 year low of $7.85 and a 1 year high of $12.78. The stock has a 50 day simple moving average of $9.71 and a 200-day simple moving average of $9.53. The stock has a market cap of $937.89 million, a PE ratio of 10.50 and a beta of 1.70.

MFA Financial (NYSE:MFA) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, August 6th. The real estate investment trust reported $0.24 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.29 by ($0.05). MFA Financial had a return on equity of 8.61% and a net margin of 17.62%.The company had revenue of $61.28 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $59.50 million. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $0.32 earnings per share. On average, sell-side analysts forecast that MFA Financial, Inc. will post 1.5 EPS for the current fiscal year.

MFA Financial Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, October 31st. Investors of record on Tuesday, September 30th will be given a dividend of $0.36 per share. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, September 30th. This represents a $1.44 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 15.8%. MFA Financial’s dividend payout ratio is 165.52%.

About MFA Financial

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.