Allianz Asset Management GmbH Sells 51,943 Shares of MFA Financial, Inc. $MFA

Allianz Asset Management GmbH decreased its holdings in shares of MFA Financial, Inc. (NYSE:MFA) by 6.3% during the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 778,887 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock after selling 51,943 shares during the period. Allianz Asset Management GmbH owned 0.76% of MFA Financial worth $7,368,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in MFA. Golden State Wealth Management LLC bought a new position in MFA Financial in the first quarter worth approximately $25,000. Trust Co. of Vermont bought a new position in MFA Financial in the second quarter worth approximately $28,000. IFP Advisors Inc boosted its holdings in MFA Financial by 40.7% in the second quarter. IFP Advisors Inc now owns 4,321 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $41,000 after acquiring an additional 1,250 shares in the last quarter. Mutual Advisors LLC bought a new position in MFA Financial in the second quarter worth approximately $96,000. Finally, MQS Management LLC purchased a new stake in shares of MFA Financial in the first quarter worth approximately $131,000. Institutional investors own 65.28% of the company’s stock.

MFA Financial Trading Up 1.8%

Shares of MFA opened at $9.22 on Thursday. The company has a market capitalization of $946.10 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of 10.59 and a beta of 1.70. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $9.67 and a 200 day moving average of $9.49. MFA Financial, Inc. has a 12 month low of $7.85 and a 12 month high of $12.75.

MFA Financial (NYSE:MFA) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, August 6th. The real estate investment trust reported $0.24 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.29 by ($0.05). The business had revenue of $61.28 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $59.50 million. MFA Financial had a net margin of 17.62% and a return on equity of 8.61%. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted $0.32 earnings per share. As a group, equities research analysts predict that MFA Financial, Inc. will post 1.5 earnings per share for the current year.

MFA Financial Dividend Announcement

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. This represents a $1.44 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 15.6%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, September 30th. MFA Financial’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 165.52%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

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

MFA Financial Company 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.