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

Shares of MFA Financial, Inc. (NYSE:MFA) have been assigned a consensus rating of “Buy” from the five research firms that are covering the firm, MarketBeat.com reports. Five research analysts have rated the stock with a buy rating. The average 12-month target price among analysts that have updated their coverage on the stock in the last year is $13.70.

A number of research firms recently weighed in on MFA. Janney Montgomery Scott assumed coverage on MFA Financial in a research note on Thursday, January 2nd. They issued a “buy” rating and a $14.00 price target on the stock. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods decreased their target price on shares of MFA Financial from $13.50 to $12.50 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, February 20th. Finally, JMP Securities lowered their price target on shares of MFA Financial from $13.50 to $12.50 and set a “market outperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, January 23rd.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the company. PharVision Advisers LLC acquired a new stake in MFA Financial in the 4th quarter valued at about $140,000. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC lifted its holdings in shares of MFA Financial by 15.2% in the fourth quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC now owns 181,431 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $1,849,000 after purchasing an additional 23,950 shares in the last quarter. State of Wyoming acquired a new stake in shares of MFA Financial in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $137,000. ProShare Advisors LLC increased its stake in shares of MFA Financial by 49.0% during the 4th quarter. ProShare Advisors LLC now owns 28,829 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $294,000 after purchasing an additional 9,485 shares in the last quarter. Finally, MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. raised its position in shares of MFA Financial by 4.6% during the 4th quarter. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. now owns 1,571,831 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $16,017,000 after purchasing an additional 68,846 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 65.28% of the company’s stock.

MFA Financial Stock Performance

MFA stock opened at $10.91 on Tuesday. The stock has a market capitalization of $1.12 billion, a PE ratio of 13.47 and a beta of 2.18. The company has a fifty day moving average of $10.41 and a 200-day moving average of $11.25. MFA Financial has a one year low of $9.36 and a one year high of $13.45.

MFA Financial (NYSE:MFA) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, February 19th. The real estate investment trust reported $0.38 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.40 by ($0.02). MFA Financial had a net margin of 16.47% and a return on equity of 9.61%. The firm had revenue of $50.80 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $58.06 million. Equities analysts forecast that MFA Financial will post 1.5 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

MFA Financial Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, April 30th. Shareholders of record on Monday, March 31st will be given a dividend of $0.36 per share. This represents a $1.44 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 13.20%. This is an increase from MFA Financial’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.35. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, March 31st. MFA Financial’s payout ratio is presently 177.78%.

MFA Financial Company Profile

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.