MFA Financial, Inc. (NYSE:MFA) Receives Consensus Rating of “Buy” from Analysts

MFA Financial, Inc. (NYSE:MFA) has earned a consensus recommendation of “Buy” from the four brokerages that are covering the stock, Marketbeat Ratings reports. Four analysts have rated the stock with a buy rating. The average 12 month price target among brokers that have issued a report on the stock in the last year is $14.00.

MFA has been the topic of a number of research analyst reports. Janney Montgomery Scott began coverage on MFA Financial in a research note on Thursday. They issued a “buy” rating and a $14.00 target price for the company. Wedbush restated an “outperform” rating and issued a $15.00 price objective on shares of MFA Financial in a research note on Thursday, November 7th. Raymond James increased their price target on shares of MFA Financial from $13.00 to $14.50 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, September 19th. StockNews.com lowered shares of MFA Financial from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday, November 7th. Finally, JMP Securities upped their price objective on shares of MFA Financial from $12.50 to $13.50 and gave the company a “market outperform” rating in a report on Friday, September 6th.

Institutional Trading of MFA Financial

Several hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in MFA. Waterfall Asset Management LLC acquired a new position in MFA Financial during the second quarter worth $1,150,000. Barclays PLC boosted its holdings in MFA Financial by 902.9% during the 3rd quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 374,481 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $4,764,000 after acquiring an additional 337,142 shares during the period. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC grew its position in MFA Financial by 74.9% in the 3rd quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC now owns 157,481 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $2,003,000 after acquiring an additional 67,449 shares in the last quarter. Vaughan Nelson Investment Management L.P. increased its stake in 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 purchasing an additional 1,197,220 shares during the period. Finally, Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its position in shares of MFA Financial by 0.9% during the third quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 2,407,455 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $30,629,000 after purchasing an additional 21,331 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 65.28% of the company’s stock.

MFA Financial Trading Up 0.2 %

MFA traded up $0.02 during trading hours on Thursday, hitting $10.21. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 208,400 shares, compared to its average volume of 779,412. The business’s 50-day moving average price is $11.14 and its 200-day moving average price is $11.56. MFA Financial has a 12 month low of $9.88 and a 12 month high of $13.45. The stock has a market cap of $1.04 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 6.42 and a beta of 2.12.

MFA Financial Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, January 31st. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, December 31st will be paid a dividend of $0.35 per share. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, December 31st. This represents a $1.40 annualized dividend and a yield of 13.71%. MFA Financial’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 88.05%.

About MFA Financial

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.