Simplify Asset Management Inc. Takes $1.89 Million Position in MFA Financial, Inc. $MFA

Simplify Asset Management Inc. bought a new position in MFA Financial, Inc. (NYSE:MFA) in the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The fund bought 202,500 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock, valued at approximately $1,885,000.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also modified their holdings of MFA. Citigroup Inc. raised its position in MFA Financial by 440.1% during the third quarter. Citigroup Inc. now owns 1,345,561 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $12,366,000 after buying an additional 1,096,443 shares during the period. Balyasny Asset Management L.P. grew its stake in MFA Financial by 53.1% during 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 acquiring an additional 977,820 shares in the last quarter. First Trust Advisors LP grew its stake in MFA Financial by 152.8% during the 2nd quarter. First Trust Advisors LP now owns 1,022,065 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $9,669,000 after acquiring an additional 617,759 shares in the last quarter. Two Sigma Investments LP increased its holdings in shares of MFA Financial by 112.1% in the 3rd quarter. Two Sigma Investments LP now owns 778,019 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $7,150,000 after purchasing an additional 411,128 shares during the period. Finally, Wolverine Asset Management LLC lifted its position in shares of MFA Financial by 9.2% in the fourth quarter. Wolverine Asset Management LLC now owns 1,653,062 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $15,390,000 after purchasing an additional 139,559 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 65.28% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research firms recently commented on MFA. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods decreased their price target on shares of MFA Financial from $11.00 to $10.00 and set a “market perform” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, May 6th. Weiss Ratings reiterated a “hold (c-)” rating on shares of MFA Financial in a research report on Wednesday, April 15th. Citigroup reissued an “outperform” rating on shares of MFA Financial in a research note on Monday, May 4th. Citizens Jmp upped their price target on shares of MFA Financial from $11.00 to $11.50 and gave the stock a “market outperform” rating in a research note on Monday, May 4th. Finally, Royal Bank Of Canada increased their price objective on MFA Financial from $10.00 to $11.00 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a report on Thursday, March 5th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and four have assigned a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $10.69.

MFA Financial Stock Performance

Shares of MFA stock opened at $9.48 on Monday. The stock’s 50 day simple moving average is $9.82 and its 200 day simple moving average is $9.73. MFA Financial, Inc. has a twelve month low of $8.78 and a twelve month high of $10.56. The company has a market capitalization of $962.66 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of 10.89 and a beta of 1.47.

MFA Financial (NYSE:MFA) last announced its earnings results on Tuesday, May 5th. The real estate investment trust reported $0.30 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.31 by ($0.01). MFA Financial had a return on equity of 6.86% and a net margin of 17.80%.The company had revenue of $43.31 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $67.52 million. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $0.29 EPS.

MFA Financial Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, April 30th. Investors of record on Tuesday, March 31st were issued a dividend of $0.36 per share. This represents a $1.44 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 15.2%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, March 31st. MFA Financial’s dividend payout ratio is currently 165.52%.

MFA Financial Profile

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.