Jennison Associates LLC Makes New $678,000 Investment in MFA Financial, Inc. $MFA

Jennison Associates LLC purchased a new stake in shares of MFA Financial, Inc. (NYSE:MFA) during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm purchased 72,855 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock, valued at approximately $678,000. Jennison Associates LLC owned 0.07% of MFA Financial as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other large investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. Citigroup Inc. boosted its stake in shares of MFA Financial by 440.1% in the third quarter. Citigroup Inc. now owns 1,345,561 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $12,366,000 after acquiring an additional 1,096,443 shares during the period. Balyasny Asset Management L.P. raised 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 purchasing an additional 977,820 shares during the period. First Trust Advisors LP lifted its holdings in MFA Financial by 152.8% in the 2nd quarter. First Trust Advisors LP now owns 1,022,065 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $9,669,000 after purchasing an additional 617,759 shares in the last quarter. Wolverine Asset Management LLC boosted its stake in MFA Financial by 57.5% in the 3rd quarter. Wolverine Asset Management LLC now owns 1,513,503 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $13,909,000 after purchasing an additional 552,517 shares during the period. Finally, Two Sigma Investments LP boosted its stake in 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 worth $7,150,000 after purchasing an additional 411,128 shares during the period. 65.28% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

MFA Financial Price Performance

NYSE MFA opened at $10.40 on Monday. MFA Financial, Inc. has a 1-year low of $8.78 and a 1-year high of $10.56. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $9.98 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $9.68. The stock has a market capitalization of $1.06 billion, a PE ratio of 8.06 and a beta of 1.47.

MFA Financial (NYSE:MFA) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, February 18th. The real estate investment trust reported $0.27 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, hitting the consensus estimate of $0.27. MFA Financial had a return on equity of 6.67% and a net margin of 23.73%.The business had revenue of $88.72 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $60.56 million. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $0.39 EPS.

MFA Financial Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, April 30th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, March 31st were given a dividend of $0.36 per share. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, March 31st. This represents a $1.44 annualized dividend and a yield of 13.9%. MFA Financial’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 111.63%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research firms have recently issued reports on MFA. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods lifted their price objective on shares of MFA Financial from $10.00 to $11.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a research report on Friday, February 20th. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “hold (c-)” rating on shares of MFA Financial in a research note on Wednesday, April 15th. Finally, Royal Bank Of Canada lifted their price target on shares of MFA Financial from $10.00 to $11.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a report on Thursday, March 5th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and four have given a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, MFA Financial has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $10.81.

About MFA Financial

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.