MFA Financial, Inc. (NYSE:MFA) Receives $12.00 Average Target Price from Analysts

MFA Financial, Inc. (NYSE:MFA) has earned a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” from the six ratings firms that are currently covering the firm, Marketbeat.com reports. Two analysts have rated the stock with a hold recommendation and four have assigned a buy recommendation to the company. The average 12 month price objective among brokers that have issued ratings on the stock in the last year is $12.00.

Separately, JMP Securities reissued a “market outperform” rating and set a $12.50 price objective on shares of MFA Financial in a report on Thursday.

MFA Financial Price Performance

Shares of MFA stock opened at $10.43 on Thursday. The firm has a market cap of $1.06 billion, a PE ratio of 26.08 and a beta of 2.10. The company has a 50-day moving average of $11.04 and a two-hundred day moving average of $10.71. MFA Financial has a 1-year low of $8.41 and a 1-year high of $11.90.

MFA Financial (NYSE:MFA) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 22nd. The real estate investment trust reported $0.46 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.34 by $0.12. MFA Financial had a net margin of 13.24% and a return on equity of 9.44%. The business had revenue of $169.88 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $43.75 million. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $0.46 earnings per share. Sell-side analysts anticipate that MFA Financial will post 1.47 EPS for the current fiscal year.

MFA Financial Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, April 30th. Investors of record on Thursday, March 28th will be paid a $0.35 dividend. This represents a $1.40 annualized dividend and a yield of 13.42%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, March 27th. MFA Financial’s payout ratio is 350.00%.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of MFA. ProShare Advisors LLC increased its position in MFA Financial by 10.2% during the 2nd quarter. ProShare Advisors LLC now owns 13,313 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $150,000 after purchasing an additional 1,232 shares in the last quarter. Capital Square LLC increased its position in MFA Financial by 3.4% during the 4th quarter. Capital Square LLC now owns 39,198 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $442,000 after purchasing an additional 1,294 shares in the last quarter. Commonwealth Equity Services LLC boosted its holdings in MFA Financial by 8.7% in the 3rd quarter. Commonwealth Equity Services LLC now owns 18,227 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $175,000 after acquiring an additional 1,456 shares during the period. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD boosted its holdings in MFA Financial by 2.9% in the 1st quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 64,525 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $641,000 after acquiring an additional 1,794 shares during the period. Finally, Nisa Investment Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in MFA Financial by 4.0% in the 3rd quarter. Nisa Investment Advisors LLC now owns 51,100 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $491,000 after acquiring an additional 1,973 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 65.28% of the company’s stock.

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.