MFA Financial, Inc. (NYSE:MFA) Receives Consensus Recommendation of "Buy" from Analysts

MFA Financial, Inc. (NYSE:MFA - Get Free Report) has been given an average rating of "Buy" by the five research firms that are covering the firm, MarketBeat Ratings reports. Five investment analysts have rated the stock with a buy recommendation. The average twelve-month target price among analysts that have covered the stock in the last year is $13.60.

A number of equities analysts have recently weighed in on MFA shares. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods dropped their price target on shares of MFA Financial from $13.50 to $12.50 and set an "outperform" rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, February 20th. StockNews.com downgraded MFA Financial from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Friday, March 28th. Finally, JMP Securities lowered their target price on shares of MFA Financial from $12.50 to $12.00 and set a "market outperform" rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, April 17th.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of large investors have recently modified their holdings of the company. Golden State Wealth Management LLC bought a new position in MFA Financial during the first quarter worth about $25,000. National Bank of Canada FI bought a new position in shares of MFA Financial in the fourth quarter worth about $27,000. Sterling Capital Management LLC grew its stake in shares of MFA Financial by 823.4% during 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 during the last quarter. Quarry LP acquired a new stake in shares of MFA Financial in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $36,000. Finally, Parkside Financial Bank & Trust bought a new position in MFA Financial in the 4th quarter worth approximately $46,000. 65.28% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

MFA Financial Trading Down 5.2 %

Shares of MFA stock opened at $9.39 on Wednesday. The company has a market capitalization of $963.91 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of 11.59 and a beta of 1.69. MFA Financial has a 1-year low of $7.85 and a 1-year high of $13.45. The stock's fifty day simple moving average is $9.93 and its 200-day simple moving average is $10.51.

MFA Financial (NYSE:MFA - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results 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). The business had revenue of $57.54 million for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $48.80 million. MFA Financial had a net margin of 16.47% and a return on equity of 9.61%. During the same period last year, the firm earned $0.35 EPS. On average, sell-side analysts predict that MFA Financial will post 1.5 EPS for the current year.

MFA Financial Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, April 30th. Shareholders of record on Monday, March 31st were given a $0.36 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Monday, March 31st. This represents a $1.44 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 15.34%. This is an increase from MFA Financial's previous quarterly dividend of $0.35. MFA Financial's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 177.78%.

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.

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