MFA Financial, Inc. (NYSE:MFA) Given Average Recommendation of "Moderate Buy" by Brokerages

Key Points

• MFA Financial, Inc. has received a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" from analysts, with three hold ratings and five buy ratings among the eight analysts reviewing the stock.
• The company's recent quarterly earnings report showed $0.24 earnings per share for the quarter, which was below the consensus estimate of $0.29, with a revenue of $61.28 million.
• MFA Financial announced a quarterly dividend of $0.36, yielding 13.9%, though it has a high dividend payout ratio of 165.52%.

MFA Financial, Inc. (NYSE:MFA - Get Free Report) has been given a consensus recommendation of "Moderate Buy" by the eight analysts that are covering the stock, MarketBeat.com reports. Three analysts have rated the stock with a hold recommendation and five have issued a buy recommendation on the company. The average 1-year price objective among analysts that have issued ratings on the stock in the last year is $12.1429.

Several equities research analysts have weighed in on MFA shares. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods downgraded MFA Financial from an "outperform" rating to a "market perform" rating and cut their price target for the stock from $12.00 to $10.00 in a report on Thursday, July 10th. Jones Trading reiterated a "hold" rating on shares of MFA Financial in a report on Monday, August 11th. UBS Group reiterated a "buy" rating on shares of MFA Financial in a report on Wednesday, September 3rd. JMP Securities decreased their target price on MFA Financial from $12.00 to $11.00 and set a "market outperform" rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, July 17th. Finally, Royal Bank Of Canada set a $10.00 target price on MFA Financial and gave the company a "sector perform" rating in a research report on Wednesday, May 28th.

MFA Financial Trading Down 0.9%

MFA traded down $0.10 during trading on Tuesday, hitting $10.11. The company's stock had a trading volume of 833,973 shares, compared to its average volume of 896,713. MFA Financial has a twelve month low of $7.85 and a twelve month high of $13.45. The business's fifty day simple moving average is $9.67 and its 200 day simple moving average is $9.72. The firm has a market capitalization of $1.04 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 11.61 and a beta of 1.68.

MFA Financial (NYSE:MFA - Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, August 6th. The real estate investment trust reported $0.24 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts' consensus estimates of $0.29 by ($0.05). The business had revenue of $61.28 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $59.50 million. MFA Financial had a net margin of 17.62% and a return on equity of 8.61%. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $0.32 earnings per share. As a group, equities research analysts forecast that MFA Financial will post 1.5 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

MFA Financial Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, October 31st. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, September 30th will be given a dividend of $0.36 per share. This represents a $1.44 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 14.3%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, September 30th. MFA Financial's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 165.52%.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On MFA Financial

A number of large investors have recently modified their holdings of the business. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its stake in shares of MFA Financial by 0.7% during the 1st quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 10,182,250 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock worth $104,470,000 after buying an additional 70,847 shares in the last quarter. Vaughan Nelson Investment Management L.P. increased its position in MFA Financial by 18.6% during the first quarter. Vaughan Nelson Investment Management L.P. now owns 6,030,535 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock worth $61,874,000 after buying an additional 944,608 shares in the last quarter. Balyasny Asset Management L.P. increased its position in MFA Financial by 53.1% during the second quarter. Balyasny Asset Management L.P. now owns 2,820,393 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock worth $26,681,000 after buying an additional 977,820 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC increased its position in MFA Financial by 2.3% during the second quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 2,489,686 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock worth $23,555,000 after buying an additional 54,944 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Invesco Ltd. increased its position in MFA Financial by 9.2% during the second quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 1,647,612 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock worth $15,586,000 after buying an additional 139,156 shares in the last quarter. 65.28% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.