Quest Partners LLC Acquires Shares of 14,820 MFA Financial, Inc. (NYSE:MFA)

Quest Partners LLC acquired a new stake in MFA Financial, Inc. (NYSE:MFA) in the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The firm acquired 14,820 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock, valued at approximately $189,000.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Future Financial Wealth Managment LLC acquired a new stake in MFA Financial in the 3rd quarter valued at about $38,000. Castleview Partners LLC acquired a new stake in shares of MFA Financial during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $79,000. Quent Capital LLC grew its position in shares of MFA Financial by 17.7% during the 1st quarter. Quent Capital LLC now owns 10,030 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $114,000 after buying an additional 1,508 shares during the period. EMC Capital Management grew its position in shares of MFA Financial by 29.5% during the 1st quarter. EMC Capital Management now owns 13,888 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $158,000 after buying an additional 3,161 shares during the period. Finally, Kingswood Wealth Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in shares of MFA Financial during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $192,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 65.28% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

MFA has been the subject of several analyst reports. Wedbush reiterated an “outperform” rating and set a $15.00 price target on shares of MFA Financial in a research report on Thursday, November 7th. JMP Securities lifted their price target on shares of MFA Financial from $12.50 to $13.50 and gave the stock a “market outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, September 6th. Raymond James lifted their price target on shares of MFA Financial from $13.00 to $14.50 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, September 19th. StockNews.com cut shares of MFA Financial from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday, November 7th. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods lifted their price target on shares of MFA Financial from $12.00 to $13.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, August 9th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and four have issued a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, MFA Financial has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $13.60.

MFA Financial Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE MFA opened at $11.15 on Thursday. The stock has a market cap of $1.14 billion, a P/E ratio of 7.01 and a beta of 2.16. The firm has a 50 day moving average price of $12.04 and a 200 day moving average price of $11.57. MFA Financial, Inc. has a 52-week low of $10.20 and a 52-week high of $13.45.

MFA Financial Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, October 31st. Investors of record on Friday, September 27th were issued a dividend of $0.35 per share. This represents a $1.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 12.56%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, September 27th. MFA Financial’s dividend payout ratio is currently 88.05%.

About MFA Financial

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.