Thrivent Financial for Lutherans Sells 100,996 Shares of MFA Financial, Inc. (NYSE:MFA)

Thrivent Financial for Lutherans lessened its holdings in shares of MFA Financial, Inc. (NYSE:MFA) by 53.7% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 87,095 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock after selling 100,996 shares during the period. Thrivent Financial for Lutherans owned about 0.09% of MFA Financial worth $888,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of the stock. Intech Investment Management LLC acquired a new position in MFA Financial in the 3rd quarter worth about $329,000. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. raised its holdings in shares of MFA Financial by 0.7% in the 3rd quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 1,835,409 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $23,346,000 after acquiring an additional 12,071 shares during the last quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC lifted its stake in MFA Financial by 74.9% during the 3rd quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC now owns 157,481 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $2,003,000 after acquiring an additional 67,449 shares in the last quarter. State Street Corp lifted its position in shares of MFA Financial by 6.2% during the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 2,579,818 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $33,700,000 after buying an additional 151,321 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Wellington Management Group LLP raised its stake in shares of MFA Financial by 1.0% during the 3rd quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 11,005,138 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $139,985,000 after purchasing an additional 111,331 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 65.28% of the company’s stock.

MFA Financial Stock Performance

MFA opened at $10.37 on Wednesday. The stock has a market capitalization of $1.06 billion, a P/E ratio of 12.80 and a beta of 2.18. MFA Financial, Inc. has a 52-week low of $9.36 and a 52-week high of $13.45. The company’s 50-day simple moving average is $10.59 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $11.12.

MFA Financial (NYSE:MFA) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, February 19th. The real estate investment trust reported $0.38 earnings per share 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 analysts’ expectations of $58.06 million. MFA Financial had a net margin of 16.47% and a return on equity of 9.61%. Research analysts forecast that MFA Financial, Inc. will post 1.5 EPS for the current fiscal year.

MFA Financial Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, April 30th. Investors of record on Monday, March 31st will be paid a dividend of $0.36 per share. The ex-dividend date is Monday, March 31st. This is a boost from MFA Financial’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.35. This represents a $1.44 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 13.89%. MFA Financial’s payout ratio is currently 177.78%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

MFA has been the topic of several research reports. JMP Securities lowered their price target on shares of MFA Financial from $13.50 to $12.50 and set a “market outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, January 23rd. 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 research note on Thursday, February 20th. Janney Montgomery Scott initiated coverage on shares of MFA Financial in a research note on Thursday, January 2nd. They set a “buy” rating and a $14.00 price objective for the company. Finally, StockNews.com lowered shares of MFA Financial from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, March 28th. One analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating and five have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, MFA Financial has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $13.70.

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.