Kingswood Wealth Advisors LLC Purchases Shares of 42,000 MFA Financial, Inc. (NYSE:MFA)

Kingswood Wealth Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in MFA Financial, Inc. (NYSE:MFA) in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm purchased 42,000 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock, valued at approximately $428,000.

A number of other large investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in MFA. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company lifted its stake in MFA Financial by 4.8% in the second quarter. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company now owns 52,660 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $560,000 after acquiring an additional 2,423 shares during the last quarter. Algert Global LLC lifted its stake in MFA Financial by 6.9% in the second quarter. Algert Global LLC now owns 158,903 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $1,691,000 after acquiring an additional 10,280 shares during the last quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC acquired a new stake in MFA Financial in the third quarter valued at $392,000. Handelsbanken Fonder AB lifted its stake in shares of MFA Financial by 16.8% during the 3rd quarter. Handelsbanken Fonder AB now owns 27,847 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $354,000 after buying an additional 4,000 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Future Financial Wealth Managment LLC acquired a new stake in shares of MFA Financial during the 3rd quarter worth about $38,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 65.28% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of analysts have recently issued reports on MFA shares. StockNews.com cut shares of MFA Financial from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Thursday, November 7th. Janney Montgomery Scott started 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 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 note on Thursday, January 23rd. Finally, Wedbush restated an “outperform” rating and set a $15.00 target price on shares of MFA Financial in a research note on Thursday, November 7th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating and five have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $13.80.

MFA Financial Stock Performance

NYSE:MFA opened at $10.36 on Friday. MFA Financial, Inc. has a 52 week low of $9.36 and a 52 week high of $13.45. The firm has a market cap of $1.06 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 6.51 and a beta of 2.11. The firm’s 50-day simple moving average is $10.49 and its 200 day simple moving average is $11.46.

MFA Financial Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, January 31st. Investors of record on Tuesday, December 31st will be given a dividend of $0.35 per share. This represents a $1.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 13.52%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, December 31st. MFA Financial’s dividend payout ratio is 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.