MFA Financial, Inc. (NYSE:MFA) Given Average Recommendation of “Hold” by Analysts

Shares of MFA Financial, Inc. (NYSE:MFA) have received an average recommendation of “Hold” from the eight brokerages that are currently covering the company, MarketBeat Ratings reports. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have assigned a hold rating and four have issued a buy rating on the company. The average 1 year target price among analysts that have covered the stock in the last year is $10.45.

MFA has been the topic of a number of recent research reports. BTIG Research raised MFA Financial from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $10.50 target price on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, June 17th. Citizens Jmp lifted their price target on MFA Financial from $11.00 to $11.50 and gave the stock a “market outperform” rating in a research report on Monday, May 4th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods decreased their target price on MFA Financial from $11.00 to $10.00 and set a “market perform” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, May 6th. Weiss Ratings downgraded MFA Financial from a “hold (c-)” rating to a “sell (d+)” rating in a research note on Monday. Finally, Citigroup reissued an “outperform” rating on shares of MFA Financial in a report on Monday, May 4th.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Balyasny Asset Management L.P. grew its position in shares of MFA Financial by 53.1% during the second quarter. Balyasny Asset Management L.P. now owns 2,820,393 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $26,681,000 after purchasing an additional 977,820 shares in the last quarter. First Trust Advisors LP lifted its position in shares of MFA Financial by 152.8% in the second quarter. First Trust Advisors LP now owns 1,022,065 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $9,669,000 after buying an additional 617,759 shares in the last quarter. Renaissance Technologies LLC boosted its stake in MFA Financial by 245.2% during the first quarter. Renaissance Technologies LLC now owns 777,025 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $7,444,000 after buying an additional 551,927 shares during the last quarter. Two Sigma Investments LP boosted its stake in MFA Financial by 112.1% during the third quarter. Two Sigma Investments LP now owns 778,019 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $7,150,000 after buying an additional 411,128 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Goldman Sachs Group Inc. grew its holdings in MFA Financial by 75.2% during the 4th quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. now owns 718,940 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $6,693,000 after buying an additional 308,491 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 65.28% of the company’s stock.

MFA Financial Stock Up 0.9%

Shares of MFA opened at $9.51 on Monday. The business’s 50 day moving average price is $9.50 and its 200-day moving average price is $9.74. MFA Financial has a 52 week low of $8.78 and a 52 week high of $10.56. The stock has a market cap of $966.52 million, a P/E ratio of 10.93 and a beta of 1.41.

MFA Financial (NYSE:MFA) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, May 5th. The real estate investment trust reported $0.30 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.31 by ($0.01). The company had revenue of $43.30 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $67.52 million. MFA Financial had a return on equity of 6.86% and a net margin of 17.80%.During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned $0.29 EPS.

MFA Financial Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, July 31st. Investors of record on Tuesday, June 30th will be paid a dividend of $0.36 per share. This represents a $1.44 annualized dividend and a yield of 15.1%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, June 30th. MFA Financial’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 165.52%.

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.