Wolverine Asset Management LLC Makes New Investment in MFA Financial, Inc. (NYSE:MFA)

Wolverine Asset Management LLC bought a new position in MFA Financial, Inc. (NYSE:MFA) in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund bought 10,818 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock, valued at approximately $110,000.

Other large investors have also bought and sold shares of the company. Brown Brothers Harriman & Co. purchased a new position in MFA Financial in the third quarter worth about $25,000. Strategic Financial Concepts LLC purchased a new position in MFA Financial in the fourth quarter worth about $104,000. Choreo LLC purchased a new position in MFA Financial in the fourth quarter worth about $135,000. EMC Capital Management raised its holdings in MFA Financial by 639.9% in the fourth quarter. EMC Capital Management now owns 13,888 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $142,000 after buying an additional 12,011 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Zacks Investment Management raised its holdings in MFA Financial by 12.7% in the third quarter. Zacks Investment Management now owns 11,377 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $145,000 after buying an additional 1,281 shares during the last quarter. 65.28% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of brokerages have recently commented on MFA. Wedbush reiterated an “outperform” rating and issued a $15.00 price target on shares of MFA Financial in a research note on Thursday, November 7th. StockNews.com lowered shares of MFA Financial from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Thursday, November 7th. Janney Montgomery Scott began coverage on shares of MFA Financial in a research report on Thursday, January 2nd. They set a “buy” rating and a $14.00 target price for the company. JMP Securities cut their target price on shares of MFA Financial from $13.50 to $12.50 and set a “market outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, January 23rd. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods cut their target price on shares of MFA Financial from $13.50 to $12.50 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, February 20th. One analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating and five have given a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, MFA Financial presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $13.70.

MFA Financial Price Performance

MFA opened at $10.32 on Tuesday. The firm has a market cap of $1.06 billion, a P/E ratio of 12.73 and a beta of 2.11. MFA Financial, Inc. has a 1-year low of $9.36 and a 1-year high of $13.45. The company has a 50 day simple moving average of $10.32 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $11.38.

MFA Financial (NYSE:MFA) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, February 19th. The real estate investment trust reported $0.38 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.40 by ($0.02). MFA Financial had a return on equity of 9.61% and a net margin of 16.47%. The company had revenue of $50.80 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $58.06 million. Equities analysts anticipate that MFA Financial, Inc. will post 1.5 earnings per share for the current year.

MFA Financial Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, January 31st. Investors of record on Tuesday, December 31st were paid a dividend of $0.35 per share. This represents a $1.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 13.57%. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, December 31st. MFA Financial’s payout ratio is 172.84%.

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.