MFA Financial, Inc. (NYSE:MFA) to Issue $0.36 Quarterly Dividend

MFA Financial, Inc. (NYSE:MFA) announced a quarterly dividend on Thursday, March 5th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, March 31st will be given a dividend of 0.36 per share by the real estate investment trust on Thursday, April 30th. This represents a c) annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 14.2%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, March 31st.

MFA Financial has increased its dividend payment by an average of 0.2%per year over the last three years and has increased its dividend every year for the last 1 years. MFA Financial has a payout ratio of 104.3% meaning the company cannot currently cover its dividend with earnings alone and is relying on its balance sheet to cover its dividend payments.

MFA Financial Price Performance

Shares of MFA stock traded down $0.03 during mid-day trading on Thursday, hitting $10.16. The company had a trading volume of 1,060,056 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,436,034. The stock’s 50 day moving average price is $9.82 and its 200-day moving average price is $9.63. MFA Financial has a 52-week low of $7.85 and a 52-week high of $11.08. The company has a market capitalization of $1.04 billion, a P/E ratio of 7.88 and a beta of 1.57.

MFA Financial (NYSE:MFA) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, February 18th. The real estate investment trust reported $0.27 earnings per share for the quarter, meeting the consensus estimate of $0.27. The company had revenue of $88.72 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $60.56 million. MFA Financial had a net margin of 23.73% and a return on equity of 6.67%. During the same period last year, the company posted $0.39 earnings per share. On average, equities research analysts expect that MFA Financial will post 1.5 earnings per share for the current year.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research analysts have recently weighed in on MFA shares. Weiss Ratings upgraded MFA Financial from a “sell (d+)” rating to a “hold (c-)” rating in a research report on Friday, January 16th. Wall Street Zen upgraded MFA Financial from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Monday, November 10th. Royal Bank Of Canada lifted their price objective on MFA Financial from $10.00 to $11.00 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a research note on Thursday. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods increased their target price on MFA Financial from $10.00 to $11.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a research report on Friday, February 20th. Finally, UBS Group cut their price target on shares of MFA Financial from $10.50 to $10.25 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, November 18th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and four have assigned a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $10.81.

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.