Vaughan Nelson Investment Management L.P. Increases Stake in MFA Financial, Inc. (NYSE:MFA)

Vaughan Nelson Investment Management L.P. grew its stake in shares of MFA Financial, Inc. (NYSE:MFA) by 11.0% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 5,085,927 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock after purchasing an additional 502,840 shares during the quarter. Vaughan Nelson Investment Management L.P. owned approximately 4.98% of MFA Financial worth $51,824,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Barclays PLC increased its position in shares of MFA Financial by 902.9% in the third quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 374,481 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $4,764,000 after acquiring an additional 337,142 shares during the period. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC increased its holdings in MFA Financial by 74.9% during the 3rd quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC now owns 157,481 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $2,003,000 after purchasing an additional 67,449 shares during the period. Kingswood Wealth Advisors LLC bought a new position in MFA Financial during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $428,000. Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its holdings in MFA Financial by 0.9% in the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 2,407,455 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $30,629,000 after buying an additional 21,331 shares during the period. Finally, Segall Bryant & Hamill LLC bought a new stake in shares of MFA Financial in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $2,509,000. Institutional investors own 65.28% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities analysts recently commented on MFA shares. StockNews.com downgraded MFA Financial from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Thursday, November 7th. Janney Montgomery Scott initiated coverage on shares of MFA Financial in a research note on Thursday, January 2nd. They set a “buy” rating and a $14.00 target price on the stock. Wedbush reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and set a $15.00 price objective on shares of MFA Financial in a research report on Thursday, November 7th. Finally, JMP Securities decreased their target price on 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. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating and five have issued a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, MFA Financial currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $13.80.

MFA Financial Stock Down 0.2 %

MFA Financial stock opened at $10.71 on Friday. The stock’s 50 day moving average is $10.41 and its 200 day moving average is $11.41. The company has a market capitalization of $1.09 billion, a P/E ratio of 6.74 and a beta of 2.11. MFA Financial, Inc. has a twelve month low of $9.36 and a twelve month high of $13.45.

MFA Financial Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, January 31st. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, December 31st were given a $0.35 dividend. This represents a $1.40 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 13.07%. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, December 31st. MFA Financial’s dividend payout ratio is presently 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.