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

Shares of MFA Financial, Inc. (NYSE:MFA - Get Free Report) have received an average recommendation of "Moderate Buy" from the six ratings firms that are covering the firm, MarketBeat.com reports. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a hold recommendation and five have given a buy recommendation to the company. The average 1-year target price among brokers that have covered the stock in the last year is $12.92.

Several brokerages recently weighed in on MFA. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods cut their price objective on shares of MFA Financial from $12.50 to $12.00 and set an "outperform" rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, May 8th. JMP Securities cut their price objective on shares of MFA Financial from $12.50 to $12.00 and set a "market outperform" rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, April 17th. Royal Bank Of Canada set a $10.00 price objective on shares of MFA Financial and gave the company a "sector perform" rating in a report on Wednesday, May 28th. Finally, Wall Street Zen lowered shares of MFA Financial from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Friday, March 28th.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On MFA Financial

Several large investors have recently bought and sold shares of MFA. Golden State Wealth Management LLC bought a new stake in MFA Financial in the first quarter valued at approximately $25,000. National Bank of Canada FI bought a new stake in MFA Financial in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $27,000. Sterling Capital Management LLC increased its stake in MFA Financial by 823.4% in the fourth quarter. Sterling Capital Management LLC now owns 3,278 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock valued at $33,000 after purchasing an additional 2,923 shares in the last quarter. Quarry LP bought a new stake in MFA Financial in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $36,000. Finally, Parkside Financial Bank & Trust bought a new stake in MFA Financial in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $46,000. Institutional investors own 65.28% of the company's stock.

MFA Financial Price Performance

Shares of MFA stock traded down $0.01 during trading hours on Thursday, reaching $9.66. 2,022,004 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,092,416. MFA Financial has a fifty-two week low of $7.85 and a fifty-two week high of $13.45. The stock's fifty day moving average is $9.54 and its two-hundred day moving average is $9.98. The company has a market cap of $991.09 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of 9.85 and a beta of 1.66.

MFA Financial (NYSE:MFA - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, May 6th. The real estate investment trust reported $0.29 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.33 by ($0.04). MFA Financial had a net margin of 18.86% and a return on equity of 9.44%. The business had revenue of $57.54 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $48.80 million. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $0.35 earnings per share. On average, research analysts anticipate that MFA Financial will post 1.5 earnings per share for the current year.

MFA Financial Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, July 31st. Shareholders of record on Monday, June 30th will be paid a $0.36 dividend. This represents a $1.44 annualized dividend and a yield of 14.91%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, June 30th. MFA Financial's payout ratio is presently 146.94%.

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.