MFA Financial, Inc. (NYSE:MFA) Given Consensus Rating of “Hold” by Brokerages

MFA Financial, Inc. (NYSE:MFA) has received a consensus recommendation of “Hold” from the eight ratings firms that are currently covering the firm, MarketBeat reports. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell recommendation, three have given a hold recommendation and four have given a buy recommendation to the company. The average 1 year target price among analysts that have covered the stock in the last year is $10.45.

MFA has been the topic of several recent analyst reports. Citigroup reaffirmed an “outperform” rating on shares of MFA Financial in a research note on Monday, May 4th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods cut their price objective on MFA Financial from $11.00 to $10.00 and set a “market perform” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, May 6th. Citizens Jmp lifted their price objective on MFA Financial from $11.00 to $11.50 and gave the company a “market outperform” rating in a report on Monday, May 4th. Royal Bank Of Canada reduced their target price on shares of MFA Financial from $11.00 to $10.00 and set a “sector perform” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, June 3rd. Finally, BTIG Research upgraded shares of MFA Financial from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $10.50 target price for the company in a research report on Wednesday, June 17th.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of MFA. Headlands Technologies LLC increased its holdings in MFA Financial by 62.3% during the 2nd quarter. Headlands Technologies LLC now owns 2,992 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $28,000 after purchasing an additional 1,149 shares in the last quarter. ProShare Advisors LLC raised its position in MFA Financial by 6.9% in the 4th quarter. ProShare Advisors LLC now owns 18,829 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $175,000 after purchasing an additional 1,211 shares during the last quarter. Tower Research Capital LLC TRC boosted its stake in MFA Financial by 23.9% in the second quarter. Tower Research Capital LLC TRC now owns 7,340 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $69,000 after purchasing an additional 1,417 shares in the last quarter. Corient Private Wealth LLC boosted its stake in MFA Financial by 1.4% in the second quarter. Corient Private Wealth LLC now owns 102,007 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $965,000 after purchasing an additional 1,420 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Allworth Financial LP grew its holdings in shares of MFA Financial by 20.7% during the fourth quarter. Allworth Financial LP now owns 8,774 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $82,000 after purchasing an additional 1,507 shares during the last quarter. 65.28% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

MFA Financial Stock Up 0.1%

NYSE:MFA opened at $9.51 on Monday. The firm has a market capitalization of $966.52 million, a PE ratio of 10.93 and a beta of 1.41. MFA Financial has a 12-month low of $8.78 and a 12-month high of $10.56. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $9.50 and a 200 day moving average price of $9.74.

MFA Financial (NYSE:MFA) last released its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, May 5th. The real estate investment trust reported $0.30 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.31 by ($0.01). MFA Financial had a net margin of 17.80% and a return on equity of 6.86%. The company had revenue of $43.30 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $67.52 million. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $0.29 earnings per share.

MFA Financial Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, July 31st. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, June 30th will be paid a dividend of $0.36 per share. This represents a $1.44 annualized dividend and a yield of 15.1%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, June 30th. MFA Financial’s dividend payout ratio is currently 165.52%.

MFA Financial Company Profile

MFA Financial, Inc, headquartered in New York City, is a real estate investment trust that specializes in investing in residential mortgage loans and mortgage-related securities. The company’s primary objective is to generate attractive risk-adjusted returns through net interest income and capital appreciation. As a mortgage REIT, MFA Financial focuses on constructing a diversified portfolio of agency and non-agency residential mortgage assets, leveraging its expertise in acquiring, financing and servicing mortgage products.

MFA Financial’s investment portfolio encompasses a wide range of mortgage instruments, including adjustable-rate and fixed-rate mortgage loans, interest-only securities, and agency mortgage-backed securities guaranteed by government-sponsored entities.