MFA Financial, Inc. (NYSE:MFA) Receives $13.70 Consensus PT from Brokerages

Shares of MFA Financial, Inc. (NYSE:MFA) have received a consensus recommendation of “Buy” from the five analysts that are covering the stock, Marketbeat.com reports. Five research analysts have rated the stock with a buy rating. The average 12-month target price among brokers that have issued ratings on the stock in the last year is $13.70.

Several equities research analysts have recently issued reports on MFA shares. Janney Montgomery Scott started coverage on MFA Financial in a report on Thursday, January 2nd. They issued a “buy” rating and a $14.00 target price on the stock. StockNews.com upgraded MFA Financial from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods dropped their price target on MFA Financial from $13.50 to $12.50 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, February 20th. Finally, JMP Securities dropped their price target on MFA Financial from $13.50 to $12.50 and set a “market outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, January 23rd.

MFA Financial Trading Up 0.4 %

Shares of MFA stock opened at $11.01 on Tuesday. MFA Financial has a 12-month low of $9.36 and a 12-month high of $13.45. The stock’s 50-day moving average price is $10.47 and its 200-day moving average price is $11.23. The stock has a market capitalization of $1.13 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 13.59 and a beta of 2.18.

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

MFA Financial Increases Dividend

The firm 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 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 13.08%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, March 31st. This is a positive change from MFA Financial’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.35. MFA Financial’s payout ratio is 177.78%.

Institutional Trading of MFA Financial

A number of large investors have recently modified their holdings of the company. Wellington Management Group LLP boosted its holdings in shares of MFA Financial by 1.0% in the third quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 11,005,138 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $139,985,000 after purchasing an additional 111,331 shares during the period. Vaughan Nelson Investment Management L.P. boosted its holdings in shares of MFA Financial by 11.0% in the fourth quarter. Vaughan Nelson Investment Management L.P. now owns 5,085,927 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $51,824,000 after purchasing an additional 502,840 shares during the period. State Street Corp boosted its holdings in shares of MFA Financial by 6.2% in the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 2,579,818 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $33,700,000 after purchasing an additional 151,321 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its holdings in shares of MFA Financial by 0.9% in the third quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 2,407,455 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $30,629,000 after purchasing an additional 21,331 shares during the period. Finally, Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of MFA Financial by 3.3% in the fourth quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 1,895,670 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $19,317,000 after purchasing an additional 60,261 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors 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.