MFA Financial (NYSE:MFA) Downgraded by Weiss Ratings to Sell (D+)

MFA Financial (NYSE:MFA) was downgraded by stock analysts at Weiss Ratings from a “hold (c-)” rating to a “sell (d+)” rating in a note issued to investors on Wednesday,Weiss Ratings reports.

A number of other equities research analysts have also recently issued reports on MFA. UBS Group reiterated a “buy” rating on shares of MFA Financial in a report on Wednesday, September 3rd. Jones Trading reiterated a “hold” rating on shares of MFA Financial in a report on Monday, August 11th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods cut shares of MFA Financial from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating and decreased their price objective for the stock from $12.00 to $10.00 in a report on Thursday, July 10th. Finally, JMP Securities decreased their price objective on shares of MFA Financial from $12.00 to $11.00 and set a “market outperform” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, July 17th. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, three have given a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $11.75.

MFA Financial Stock Up 2.2%

MFA Financial stock opened at $9.17 on Wednesday. The company’s fifty day simple moving average is $9.71 and its 200-day simple moving average is $9.58. MFA Financial has a 12 month low of $7.85 and a 12 month high of $12.78. The stock has a market cap of $941.48 million, a P/E ratio of 10.54 and a beta of 1.70.

MFA Financial (NYSE:MFA) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, August 6th. The real estate investment trust reported $0.24 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.29 by ($0.05). The business had revenue of $61.28 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $59.50 million. MFA Financial had a return on equity of 8.61% and a net margin of 17.62%.During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $0.32 earnings per share. On average, equities research analysts expect that MFA Financial will post 1.5 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Headlands Technologies LLC lifted its position in MFA Financial by 62.3% during the 2nd quarter. Headlands Technologies LLC now owns 2,992 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $28,000 after acquiring an additional 1,149 shares during the last quarter. Wedbush Securities Inc. raised its position in shares of MFA Financial by 9.1% during the first quarter. Wedbush Securities Inc. now owns 14,347 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $147,000 after buying an additional 1,199 shares during the last quarter. IFP Advisors Inc raised its position in shares of MFA Financial by 40.7% during the second quarter. IFP Advisors Inc now owns 4,321 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $41,000 after buying an additional 1,250 shares during the last quarter. Police & Firemen s Retirement System of New Jersey raised its position in shares of MFA Financial by 6.7% during the second quarter. Police & Firemen s Retirement System of New Jersey now owns 22,150 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $210,000 after buying an additional 1,392 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Tower Research Capital LLC TRC raised its position in shares of MFA Financial by 23.9% during the second quarter. Tower Research Capital LLC TRC now owns 7,340 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $69,000 after buying an additional 1,417 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 65.28% of the company’s stock.

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.