Brokerages Set MFA Financial, Inc. (NYSE:MFA) Target Price at $11.05

Shares of MFA Financial, Inc. (NYSE:MFA) have earned an average rating of “Hold” from the seven brokerages that are currently covering the firm, MarketBeat Ratings reports. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell recommendation, three have assigned a hold recommendation and three have given a buy recommendation to the company. The average 12-month target price among brokerages that have issued a report on the stock in the last year is $11.05.

MFA has been the topic of several research analyst reports. Weiss Ratings cut shares of MFA Financial from a “hold (c-)” rating to a “sell (d+)” rating in a report on Monday. Wall Street Zen raised MFA Financial from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Monday, November 10th. Finally, UBS Group dropped their price target on MFA Financial from $10.50 to $10.25 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, November 18th.

Institutional Trading of MFA Financial

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the business. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its holdings in shares of MFA Financial by 0.7% during the first quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 10,182,250 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $104,470,000 after purchasing an additional 70,847 shares during the period. Balyasny Asset Management L.P. increased its stake in MFA Financial by 53.1% during the 2nd quarter. Balyasny Asset Management L.P. now owns 2,820,393 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $26,681,000 after acquiring an additional 977,820 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC raised its holdings in MFA Financial by 2.3% in the 2nd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 2,489,686 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $23,555,000 after acquiring an additional 54,944 shares in the last quarter. Invesco Ltd. raised its holdings in MFA Financial by 9.2% in the 2nd quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 1,647,612 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $15,586,000 after acquiring an additional 139,156 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Wolverine Asset Management LLC lifted its position in shares of MFA Financial by 57.5% during the 3rd quarter. Wolverine Asset Management LLC now owns 1,513,503 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $13,909,000 after acquiring an additional 552,517 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 65.28% of the company’s stock.

MFA Financial Price Performance

Shares of MFA Financial stock opened at $9.71 on Thursday. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $9.34 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $9.50. MFA Financial has a 1 year low of $7.85 and a 1 year high of $11.08. The company has a market capitalization of $992.36 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of 11.42 and a beta of 1.61.

MFA Financial (NYSE:MFA) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, November 6th. The real estate investment trust reported $0.20 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.30 by ($0.10). The company had revenue of $101.03 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $57.40 million. MFA Financial had a net margin of 17.51% and a return on equity of 7.26%. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $0.37 earnings per share. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that MFA Financial will post 1.5 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

MFA Financial Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, January 30th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, December 31st will be given a $0.36 dividend. This represents a $1.44 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 14.8%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, December 31st. MFA Financial’s payout ratio is presently 169.41%.

About MFA Financial

MFA Financial, Inc, headquartered in New York City, is a real estate investment trust that specializes in investing in residential mortgage loans and mortgage-related securities. The company’s primary objective is to generate attractive risk-adjusted returns through net interest income and capital appreciation. As a mortgage REIT, MFA Financial focuses on constructing a diversified portfolio of agency and non-agency residential mortgage assets, leveraging its expertise in acquiring, financing and servicing mortgage products.

MFA Financial’s investment portfolio encompasses a wide range of mortgage instruments, including adjustable-rate and fixed-rate mortgage loans, interest-only securities, and agency mortgage-backed securities guaranteed by government-sponsored entities.