MFA Financial, Inc. (NYSE:MFA) Receives Average Recommendation of “Moderate Buy” from Analysts

MFA Financial, Inc. (NYSE:MFA) has earned an average rating of “Moderate Buy” from the six brokerages that are presently covering the stock, MarketBeat reports. Two analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and four have given a buy rating to the company. The average twelve-month price objective among brokerages that have updated their coverage on the stock in the last year is $12.00.

Separately, JMP Securities restated a “market outperform” rating and set a $12.50 price target on shares of MFA Financial in a research report on Thursday.

Institutional Trading of MFA Financial

A number of institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the company. Creekmur Asset Management LLC purchased a new stake in MFA Financial in the fourth quarter worth about $25,000. Captrust Financial Advisors bought a new position in shares of MFA Financial during the second quarter valued at approximately $28,000. Future Financial Wealth Managment LLC bought a new position in shares of MFA Financial during the first quarter valued at approximately $34,000. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. increased its stake in shares of MFA Financial by 520.2% during the second quarter. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. now owns 3,064 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $34,000 after purchasing an additional 2,570 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Federated Hermes Inc. increased its stake in shares of MFA Financial by 240.7% during the third quarter. Federated Hermes Inc. now owns 4,027 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $32,000 after purchasing an additional 2,845 shares in the last quarter. 65.28% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

MFA Financial Stock Performance

MFA Financial stock traded up $0.12 during mid-day trading on Thursday, reaching $10.37. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 90,117 shares, compared to its average volume of 762,992. MFA Financial has a 12-month low of $8.41 and a 12-month high of $11.90. The company has a market capitalization of $1.06 billion, a P/E ratio of 25.93 and a beta of 2.10. The firm’s fifty day moving average price is $11.05 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $10.69.

MFA Financial (NYSE:MFA) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 22nd. The real estate investment trust reported $0.46 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.34 by $0.12. MFA Financial had a net margin of 13.24% and a return on equity of 9.44%. The business had revenue of $169.88 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $43.75 million. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $0.46 EPS. On average, research analysts predict that MFA Financial will post 1.47 EPS for the current fiscal year.

MFA Financial Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, April 30th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, March 28th will be issued a dividend of $0.35 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, March 27th. This represents a $1.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 13.50%. MFA Financial’s dividend payout ratio is currently 350.00%.

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.