MFA Financial, Inc. (NYSE:MFA) Given Average Recommendation of “Buy” by Brokerages

Shares of MFA Financial, Inc. (NYSE:MFA) have received a consensus recommendation of “Buy” from the five ratings firms that are covering the company, Marketbeat Ratings reports. Five equities research analysts have rated the stock with a buy rating. The average 1 year price objective among analysts that have issued ratings on the stock in the last year is $13.70.

MFA has been the subject of several recent analyst reports. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods cut their price objective on MFA Financial from $13.50 to $12.50 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a report on Thursday. JMP Securities cut their price objective on MFA Financial from $13.50 to $12.50 and set a “market outperform” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, January 23rd. StockNews.com downgraded MFA Financial from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Thursday, November 7th. Janney Montgomery Scott began coverage on MFA Financial in a report on Thursday, January 2nd. They issued a “buy” rating and a $14.00 price objective for the company. Finally, Wedbush reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and set a $15.00 price target on shares of MFA Financial in a report on Thursday, November 7th.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On MFA Financial

Hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Balyasny Asset Management L.P. acquired a new stake in shares of MFA Financial during the fourth quarter worth $18,325,000. Vaughan Nelson Investment Management L.P. lifted its holdings in shares of MFA Financial by 35.4% during the third quarter. Vaughan Nelson Investment Management L.P. now owns 4,583,087 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $58,297,000 after buying an additional 1,197,220 shares in the last quarter. First Trust Advisors LP lifted its holdings in shares of MFA Financial by 531.6% during the fourth quarter. First Trust Advisors LP now owns 794,394 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $8,095,000 after buying an additional 668,618 shares in the last quarter. Norges Bank acquired a new stake in shares of MFA Financial during the fourth quarter worth $3,564,000. Finally, Barclays PLC lifted its holdings in shares of MFA Financial by 902.9% during the third quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 374,481 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $4,764,000 after buying an additional 337,142 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 65.28% of the company’s stock.

MFA Financial Stock Up 0.3 %

Shares of MFA opened at $10.36 on Friday. The stock has a market capitalization of $1.06 billion, a P/E ratio of 6.51 and a beta of 2.11. MFA Financial has a twelve month low of $9.36 and a twelve month high of $13.45. The company has a 50 day moving average of $10.34 and a 200-day moving average of $11.38.

MFA Financial (NYSE:MFA) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, February 19th. The real estate investment trust reported $0.38 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.40 by ($0.02). The company had revenue of $50.80 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $58.06 million. MFA Financial had a net margin of 28.38% and a return on equity of 9.97%. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that MFA Financial will post 1.43 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

MFA Financial Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, January 31st. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, December 31st were issued a dividend of $0.35 per share. This represents a $1.40 annualized dividend and a yield of 13.52%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, December 31st. MFA Financial’s dividend payout ratio is 88.05%.

MFA Financial Company Profile

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.