MFA Financial, Inc. (NYSE:MFA) Short Interest Update

MFA Financial, Inc. (NYSE:MFA) saw a significant decrease in short interest in the month of February. As of February 27th, there was short interest totaling 2,191,825 shares, a decrease of 17.5% from the February 12th total of 2,656,748 shares. Currently, 2.2% of the company’s shares are short sold. Based on an average trading volume of 1,374,427 shares, the short-interest ratio is presently 1.6 days. Based on an average trading volume of 1,374,427 shares, the short-interest ratio is presently 1.6 days. Currently, 2.2% of the company’s shares are short sold.

Institutional Trading of MFA Financial

A number of institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of MFA. Corient Private Wealth LLC raised its position in MFA Financial by 2.0% in the fourth quarter. Corient Private Wealth LLC now owns 107,767 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $1,003,000 after acquiring an additional 2,149 shares in the last quarter. Mercer Global Advisors Inc. ADV grew its stake in shares of MFA Financial by 8.5% during the 4th quarter. Mercer Global Advisors Inc. ADV now owns 40,882 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $381,000 after purchasing an additional 3,211 shares during the period. XTX Topco Ltd increased its holdings in shares of MFA Financial by 190.4% in the 4th quarter. XTX Topco Ltd now owns 100,745 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $938,000 after purchasing an additional 66,048 shares in the last quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP lifted its stake in shares of MFA Financial by 25.1% in the fourth quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 760,910 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $7,084,000 after purchasing an additional 152,718 shares during the period. Finally, Tudor Investment Corp ET AL acquired a new stake in shares of MFA Financial in the fourth quarter valued at about $2,523,000. 65.28% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities research analysts have weighed in on the stock. Royal Bank Of Canada lifted their price target on shares of MFA Financial from $10.00 to $11.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a research report on Thursday, March 5th. Weiss Ratings upgraded shares of MFA Financial from a “sell (d+)” rating to a “hold (c-)” rating in a report on Friday, January 16th. UBS Group dropped their target price on shares of MFA Financial from $10.50 to $10.25 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, November 18th. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods boosted 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. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and four have given a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $10.81.

MFA Financial Stock Up 1.3%

NYSE:MFA traded up $0.13 on Monday, reaching $9.95. 1,150,014 shares of the company’s stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,427,993. The firm has a market capitalization of $1.02 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 7.71 and a beta of 1.57. MFA Financial has a 52-week low of $7.85 and a 52-week high of $11.08. The business has a fifty day moving average of $9.91 and a 200-day moving average of $9.63.

MFA Financial (NYSE:MFA) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, February 18th. The real estate investment trust reported $0.27 EPS for the quarter, hitting analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.27. The business had revenue of $88.72 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $60.56 million. MFA Financial had a return on equity of 6.67% and a net margin of 23.73%.During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $0.39 earnings per share. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that MFA Financial will post 1.5 earnings per share for the current year.

MFA Financial Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, April 30th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, March 31st will be given a dividend of $0.36 per share. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, March 31st. This represents a $1.44 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 14.5%. MFA Financial’s dividend payout ratio is presently 111.63%.

MFA Financial Company Profile

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.