Y Intercept Hong Kong Ltd Buys 138,831 Shares of MFA Financial, Inc. $MFA

Y Intercept Hong Kong Ltd raised its position in shares of MFA Financial, Inc. (NYSE:MFA) by 1,250.7% in the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 149,931 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock after acquiring an additional 138,831 shares during the period. Y Intercept Hong Kong Ltd owned approximately 0.15% of MFA Financial worth $1,378,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other large investors also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Trust Co. of Vermont acquired a new stake in MFA Financial in the 2nd quarter worth about $28,000. Headlands Technologies LLC increased its holdings in shares of MFA Financial by 62.3% during the second quarter. Headlands Technologies LLC now owns 2,992 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $28,000 after purchasing an additional 1,149 shares during the period. IFP Advisors Inc increased its holdings in shares of MFA Financial by 40.7% during the second 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 period. Huntington National Bank raised its position in shares of MFA Financial by 58.6% in the second quarter. Huntington National Bank now owns 5,790 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $55,000 after buying an additional 2,139 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Tower Research Capital LLC TRC boosted its stake in shares of MFA Financial by 23.9% in the second quarter. Tower Research Capital LLC TRC now owns 7,340 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $69,000 after buying an additional 1,417 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 65.28% of the company’s stock.

MFA Financial Trading Down 4.8%

Shares of MFA stock opened at $9.65 on Friday. The firm has a market capitalization of $986.23 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of 11.35 and a beta of 1.60. The business’s 50-day moving average price is $9.68 and its 200-day moving average price is $9.54. MFA Financial, Inc. has a 12 month low of $7.85 and a 12 month high of $11.08.

MFA Financial (NYSE:MFA) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, November 6th. The real estate investment trust reported $0.20 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.30 by ($0.10). The business had revenue of $101.03 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $57.40 million. MFA Financial had a return on equity of 7.26% and a net margin of 17.51%.During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $0.37 EPS. On average, sell-side analysts predict that MFA Financial, Inc. will post 1.5 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

MFA Financial Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, January 30th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, December 31st were given a dividend of $0.36 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, December 31st. This represents a $1.44 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 14.9%. MFA Financial’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 169.41%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several brokerages have weighed in on MFA. Wall Street Zen raised MFA Financial from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Monday, November 10th. UBS Group dropped their price target on MFA Financial from $10.50 to $10.25 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, November 18th. Finally, Weiss Ratings raised shares of MFA Financial from a “sell (d+)” rating to a “hold (c-)” rating in a research report on Friday, January 16th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and four have assigned a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $10.31.

About MFA Financial

MFA Financial, Inc, headquartered in New York City, is a real estate investment trust that specializes in investing in residential mortgage loans and mortgage-related securities. The company’s primary objective is to generate attractive risk-adjusted returns through net interest income and capital appreciation. As a mortgage REIT, MFA Financial focuses on constructing a diversified portfolio of agency and non-agency residential mortgage assets, leveraging its expertise in acquiring, financing and servicing mortgage products.

MFA Financial’s investment portfolio encompasses a wide range of mortgage instruments, including adjustable-rate and fixed-rate mortgage loans, interest-only securities, and agency mortgage-backed securities guaranteed by government-sponsored entities.