Independent Advisor Alliance Reduces Holdings in MFA Financial, Inc. (NYSE:MFA)

Independent Advisor Alliance decreased its holdings in shares of MFA Financial, Inc. (NYSE:MFA) by 4.5% during the third quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The fund owned 172,959 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock after selling 8,093 shares during the period. Independent Advisor Alliance’s holdings in MFA Financial were worth $2,200,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other large investors have also modified their holdings of the business. Vaughan Nelson Investment Management L.P. grew its stake in shares of MFA Financial by 35.4% during the third quarter. Vaughan Nelson Investment Management L.P. now owns 4,583,087 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $58,297,000 after acquiring an additional 1,197,220 shares during the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. grew its stake in shares of MFA Financial by 0.7% during the third 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. Natixis Advisors LLC grew its stake in shares of MFA Financial by 38.7% during the third quarter. Natixis Advisors LLC now owns 898,212 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $11,425,000 after acquiring an additional 250,535 shares during the last quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp grew its stake in shares of MFA Financial by 17.7% during the second quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp now owns 822,696 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $8,753,000 after acquiring an additional 123,790 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Bank of New York Mellon Corp grew its stake in shares of MFA Financial by 8.9% during the second quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 496,843 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $5,286,000 after acquiring an additional 40,782 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 65.28% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities research analysts recently commented on the company. JMP Securities lifted their target price on MFA Financial from $12.50 to $13.50 and gave the stock a “market outperform” rating in a report on Friday, September 6th. StockNews.com downgraded MFA Financial from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Thursday, November 7th. Raymond James lifted their target price on MFA Financial from $13.00 to $14.50 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, September 19th. Wedbush reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and set a $15.00 target price on shares of MFA Financial in a report on Thursday, November 7th. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods lifted their target price on MFA Financial from $12.00 to $13.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, August 9th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and four have given a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, MFA Financial currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $13.60.

MFA Financial Trading Up 0.4 %

Shares of NYSE:MFA opened at $11.20 on Tuesday. MFA Financial, Inc. has a 12-month low of $10.20 and a 12-month high of $13.45. The company has a market capitalization of $1.14 billion, a PE ratio of 7.04 and a beta of 2.16. The business has a 50 day moving average of $12.16 and a two-hundred day moving average of $11.56.

MFA Financial Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, October 31st. Shareholders of record on Friday, September 27th were issued a $0.35 dividend. This represents a $1.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 12.50%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, September 27th. MFA Financial’s payout ratio is presently 88.05%.

MFA Financial 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.