Fox Run Management L.L.C. Takes Position in MFA Financial, Inc. $MFA

Fox Run Management L.L.C. bought a new position in shares of MFA Financial, Inc. (NYSE:MFA) in the 2nd quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The firm bought 29,062 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock, valued at approximately $275,000.

A number of other large investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Bank of New York Mellon Corp grew its holdings in MFA Financial by 5.8% during the 1st quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 507,580 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $5,208,000 after buying an additional 27,890 shares in the last quarter. Bailard Inc. purchased a new position in MFA Financial during the first quarter valued at $443,000. Allianz Asset Management GmbH increased its holdings in MFA Financial by 17.8% in the 1st quarter. Allianz Asset Management GmbH now owns 830,830 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $8,524,000 after acquiring an additional 125,328 shares during the last quarter. Wedbush Securities Inc. lifted its stake in MFA Financial by 9.1% in the 1st quarter. Wedbush Securities Inc. now owns 14,347 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $147,000 after purchasing an additional 1,199 shares in the last quarter. Finally, LPL Financial LLC grew its position in shares of MFA Financial by 27.9% during the first quarter. LPL Financial LLC now owns 297,873 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $3,056,000 after purchasing an additional 65,058 shares in the last quarter. 65.28% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

MFA Financial Trading Down 1.1%

MFA opened at $9.25 on Friday. MFA Financial, Inc. has a 12-month low of $7.85 and a 12-month high of $11.34. The business’s fifty day simple moving average is $9.40 and its 200-day simple moving average is $9.52. The company has a market capitalization of $944.80 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of 10.63 and a beta of 1.73.

MFA Financial (NYSE:MFA) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, November 6th. The real estate investment trust reported $0.20 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.30 by ($0.10). The company had revenue of $101.03 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $57.40 million. MFA Financial had a net margin of 17.62% and a return on equity of 8.61%. During the same period last year, the business posted $0.37 EPS. On average, equities research analysts predict that MFA Financial, Inc. will post 1.5 EPS for the current year.

MFA Financial Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, October 31st. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, September 30th were issued a $0.36 dividend. This represents a $1.44 annualized dividend and a yield of 15.6%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, September 30th. MFA Financial’s payout ratio is currently 169.41%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities analysts recently commented on MFA shares. Wall Street Zen raised MFA Financial from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Monday. UBS Group reissued a “buy” rating on shares of MFA Financial in a research note on Wednesday, September 3rd. Weiss Ratings downgraded shares of MFA Financial from a “hold (c-)” rating to a “sell (d+)” rating in a report on Friday, November 7th. Jones Trading restated a “hold” rating on shares of MFA Financial in a research report on Monday, August 11th. Finally, JMP Securities reduced their price target on MFA Financial from $12.00 to $11.00 and set a “market outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, July 17th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, three have issued a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $11.10.

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.