Natixis Advisors LLC Purchases 250,535 Shares of MFA Financial, Inc. (NYSE:MFA)

Natixis Advisors LLC increased its holdings in MFA Financial, Inc. (NYSE:MFA) by 38.7% during the 3rd quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The firm owned 898,212 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock after buying an additional 250,535 shares during the period. Natixis Advisors LLC’s holdings in MFA Financial were worth $11,425,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Victory Capital Management Inc. grew its position in shares of MFA Financial by 14.6% in the 3rd quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. now owns 112,520 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $1,431,000 after buying an additional 14,333 shares during the last quarter. Castleview Partners LLC bought a new stake in MFA Financial in the third quarter valued at $79,000. Future Financial Wealth Managment LLC bought a new stake in MFA Financial in the third quarter valued at $38,000. Handelsbanken Fonder AB raised its holdings in MFA Financial by 16.8% in the 3rd quarter. Handelsbanken Fonder AB now owns 27,847 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $354,000 after purchasing an additional 4,000 shares in the last quarter. Finally, SG Americas Securities LLC purchased a new stake in shares of MFA Financial in the 3rd quarter worth about $392,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 65.28% of the company’s stock.

MFA Financial Stock Down 1.8 %

NYSE:MFA opened at $10.84 on Thursday. The stock has a market cap of $1.11 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 6.81 and a beta of 2.16. The company’s 50 day moving average price is $12.26 and its 200-day moving average price is $11.56. MFA Financial, Inc. has a 52 week low of $10.20 and a 52 week high of $13.45.

MFA Financial Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, October 31st. Shareholders of record on Friday, September 27th were paid a dividend of $0.35 per share. The ex-dividend date was Friday, September 27th. This represents a $1.40 annualized dividend and a yield of 12.92%. MFA Financial’s dividend payout ratio is 88.05%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

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

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.