MFA Financial, Inc. (NYSE:MFA) Given Consensus Rating of “Hold” by Brokerages

MFA Financial, Inc. (NYSE:MFA) has been given a consensus recommendation of “Hold” by the eight research firms that are currently covering the stock, MarketBeat.com reports. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have given a hold rating and four have issued a buy rating on the company. The average 12 month price objective among brokers that have covered the stock in the last year is $11.75.

A number of equities analysts have recently commented on MFA shares. Weiss Ratings cut MFA Financial from a “hold (c-)” rating to a “sell (d+)” rating in a report on Wednesday. JMP Securities lowered their price target on MFA Financial from $12.00 to $11.00 and set a “market outperform” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, July 17th. UBS Group reissued a “buy” rating on shares of MFA Financial in a report on Wednesday, September 3rd. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods cut MFA Financial from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating and lowered their price target for the stock from $12.00 to $10.00 in a report on Thursday, July 10th. Finally, Jones Trading reissued a “hold” rating on shares of MFA Financial in a report on Monday, August 11th.

MFA Financial Price Performance

MFA Financial stock opened at $9.12 on Friday. The stock’s fifty day moving average price is $9.71 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $9.55. MFA Financial has a one year low of $7.85 and a one year high of $12.78. The firm has a market cap of $936.04 million, a PE ratio of 10.48 and a beta of 1.70.

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

MFA Financial Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, October 31st. Investors of record on Tuesday, September 30th will be given a dividend of $0.36 per share. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, September 30th. This represents a $1.44 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 15.8%. MFA Financial’s payout ratio is currently 165.52%.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On MFA Financial

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Golden State Wealth Management LLC bought a new stake in MFA Financial during the 1st quarter worth $25,000. Trust Co. of Vermont bought a new stake in MFA Financial during the 2nd quarter worth $28,000. Headlands Technologies LLC grew 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. IFP Advisors Inc grew its position in MFA Financial by 40.7% during the 2nd quarter. IFP Advisors Inc now owns 4,321 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $41,000 after acquiring an additional 1,250 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Huntington National Bank grew its position in MFA Financial by 58.6% during the 2nd quarter. Huntington National Bank now owns 5,790 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $55,000 after acquiring an additional 2,139 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors 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.