Van ECK Associates Corp Decreases Stake in MFA Financial, Inc. $MFA

Van ECK Associates Corp lessened its holdings in shares of MFA Financial, Inc. (NYSE:MFA) by 12.2% during the second quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The fund owned 1,034,189 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock after selling 144,093 shares during the period. Van ECK Associates Corp’s holdings in MFA Financial were worth $10,021,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other large investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the business. BlackRock Inc. lifted its holdings in MFA Financial by 3.0% in the second quarter. BlackRock Inc. now owns 9,459,988 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $91,667,000 after acquiring an additional 271,707 shares during the period. Balyasny Asset Management L.P. increased its holdings in shares of MFA Financial by 53.1% in the 2nd quarter. Balyasny Asset Management L.P. now owns 2,820,393 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $26,681,000 after purchasing an additional 977,820 shares in the last quarter. Invesco Ltd. lifted its stake in shares of MFA Financial by 9.2% in the second quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 1,647,612 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $15,586,000 after purchasing an additional 139,156 shares during the period. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. lifted its stake in shares of MFA Financial by 6.7% in the third quarter. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. now owns 1,286,163 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $11,820,000 after purchasing an additional 80,900 shares during the period. Finally, Millennium Management LLC boosted its holdings in MFA Financial by 25.7% during the fourth quarter. Millennium Management LLC now owns 1,033,539 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $9,622,000 after buying an additional 211,520 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 65.28% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research analysts have weighed in on the stock. Citizens Jmp lowered their target price on shares of MFA Financial from $11.50 to $11.00 and set a “market outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, August 4th. William Blair set a $11.00 price target on MFA Financial in a report on Tuesday, August 4th. Weiss Ratings raised MFA Financial from a “sell (d+)” rating to a “hold (c-)” rating in a research note on Thursday, August 13th. BTIG Research raised MFA Financial from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $10.50 price objective for the company in a report on Wednesday, June 17th. Finally, Citigroup reiterated a “market outperform” rating on shares of MFA Financial in a research report on Tuesday, August 4th. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and three have assigned a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $10.46.

MFA Financial Stock Performance

MFA Financial stock opened at $8.69 on Wednesday. MFA Financial, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $8.63 and a fifty-two week high of $10.56. The company has a market capitalization of $878.45 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of 8.69 and a beta of 1.42. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $9.23 and a two-hundred day moving average of $9.58.

MFA Financial Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, July 31st. Investors of record on Tuesday, June 30th were given a dividend of $0.36 per share. This represents a $1.44 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 16.6%. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, June 30th. MFA Financial’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 144.00%.

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.