MFA Financial, Inc. (NYSE:MFA) Shares Purchased by Vaughan Nelson Investment Management L.P.

Vaughan Nelson Investment Management L.P. raised its holdings in MFA Financial, Inc. (NYSE:MFA) by 35.4% during the third quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 4,583,087 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock after purchasing an additional 1,197,220 shares during the quarter. Vaughan Nelson Investment Management L.P. owned 4.49% of MFA Financial worth $58,297,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Natixis Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in shares of MFA Financial by 38.7% in the 3rd quarter. Natixis Advisors LLC now owns 898,212 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $11,425,000 after buying an additional 250,535 shares during the period. Van ECK Associates Corp lifted its holdings in MFA Financial by 17.7% in the second quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp now owns 822,696 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $8,753,000 after acquiring an additional 123,790 shares during the period. Waterfall Asset Management LLC purchased a new stake in shares of MFA Financial during the 2nd quarter worth $1,150,000. Jupiter Asset Management Ltd. acquired a new position in shares of MFA Financial during the 1st quarter worth $860,000. Finally, Deerfield Management Company L.P. Series C purchased a new position in shares of MFA Financial in the 2nd quarter valued at about $561,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 65.28% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

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

MFA Financial Stock Performance

MFA stock opened at $11.03 on Friday. The stock’s 50 day moving average price is $12.32 and its 200 day moving average price is $11.55. The firm has a market cap of $1.13 billion, a P/E ratio of 6.94 and a beta of 2.16. MFA Financial, Inc. has a 1 year low of $10.20 and a 1 year high of $13.45.

MFA Financial Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, October 31st. Investors of record on Friday, September 27th were paid a dividend of $0.35 per share. This represents a $1.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 12.69%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, September 27th. MFA Financial’s 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.