MFA Financial (NYSE:MFA) Downgraded to “Hold” Rating by StockNews.com

StockNews.com downgraded shares of MFA Financial (NYSE:MFA) from a buy rating to a hold rating in a research report sent to investors on Thursday.

A number of other research analysts have also recently commented on MFA. Raymond James raised their price target on shares of MFA Financial from $13.00 to $14.50 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, September 19th. JMP Securities raised their price target on shares of MFA Financial from $12.50 to $13.50 and gave the stock a “market outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, September 6th. Wedbush restated an “outperform” rating and set a $15.00 price target on shares of MFA Financial in a research note on Thursday. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods raised their price target on shares of MFA Financial from $12.00 to $13.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, August 9th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and four have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $13.60.

MFA Financial Price Performance

Shares of NYSE MFA traded up $0.01 during mid-day trading on Thursday, hitting $11.56. The company had a trading volume of 601,602 shares, compared to its average volume of 740,331. The business’s 50-day simple moving average is $12.46 and its 200-day simple moving average is $11.52. MFA Financial has a 12 month low of $9.48 and a 12 month high of $13.45. The firm has a market cap of $1.18 billion, a P/E ratio of 19.97 and a beta of 2.16.

MFA Financial Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, October 31st. Stockholders of record on Friday, September 27th were issued a dividend of $0.35 per share. This represents a $1.40 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 12.11%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, September 27th. MFA Financial’s payout ratio is 241.38%.

Institutional Trading of MFA Financial

Several hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of MFA. Vaughan Nelson Investment Management L.P. increased its holdings in shares of MFA Financial by 35.4% during the third quarter. Vaughan Nelson Investment Management L.P. now owns 4,583,087 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $58,297,000 after buying an additional 1,197,220 shares in the last quarter. Natixis Advisors LLC increased its holdings in shares of MFA Financial by 38.7% in the third quarter. Natixis Advisors LLC now owns 898,212 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $11,425,000 after purchasing an additional 250,535 shares in the last quarter. Segall Bryant & Hamill LLC acquired a new stake in shares of MFA Financial in the third quarter valued at approximately $2,509,000. Van ECK Associates Corp increased its holdings in shares of MFA Financial by 17.7% in the second quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp now owns 822,696 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $8,753,000 after purchasing an additional 123,790 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Waterfall Asset Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of MFA Financial in the second quarter valued at approximately $1,150,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 65.28% of the company’s stock.

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.