MFA Financial (NYSE:MFA) Upgraded by StockNews.com to Buy

StockNews.com upgraded shares of MFA Financial (NYSE:MFA) from a hold rating to a buy rating in a report released on Tuesday morning.

Separately, JMP Securities reissued a market outperform rating and issued a $12.50 price objective on shares of MFA Financial in a research report on Friday, May 31st. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and five have given a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of Moderate Buy and a consensus price target of $12.00.

MFA Financial Stock Performance

MFA opened at $10.61 on Tuesday. MFA Financial has a 1 year low of $8.41 and a 1 year high of $11.90. The firm has a 50 day moving average price of $10.75 and a 200 day moving average price of $11.02. The company has a market cap of $1.08 billion, a PE ratio of -132.55 and a beta of 2.15.

MFA Financial Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, July 31st. Shareholders of record on Friday, June 28th will be paid a dividend of $0.35 per share. The ex-dividend date is Friday, June 28th. This represents a $1.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 13.20%. MFA Financial’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently -1,749.78%.

Institutional Trading of MFA Financial

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Quent Capital LLC grew its holdings in MFA Financial by 17.7% during the 1st quarter. Quent Capital LLC now owns 10,030 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $114,000 after acquiring an additional 1,508 shares in the last quarter. EMC Capital Management lifted its position in shares of MFA Financial by 29.5% during the first quarter. EMC Capital Management now owns 13,888 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $158,000 after purchasing an additional 3,161 shares during the last quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD grew its stake in MFA Financial by 5.2% in the first quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 74,000 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $845,000 after purchasing an additional 3,677 shares in the last quarter. Mitsubishi UFJ Trust & Banking Corp increased its holdings in MFA Financial by 82.7% in the first quarter. Mitsubishi UFJ Trust & Banking Corp now owns 2,658 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $30,000 after buying an additional 1,203 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Jupiter Asset Management Ltd. acquired a new stake in MFA Financial during the first quarter valued at approximately $860,000. Institutional investors 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.