MFA Financial, Inc. Plans Quarterly Dividend of $0.36 (NYSE:MFA)

MFA Financial, Inc. (NYSE:MFA - Get Free Report) declared a quarterly dividend on Thursday, June 12th, RTT News reports. Stockholders of record on Monday, June 30th will be given a dividend of 0.36 per share by the real estate investment trust on Thursday, July 31st. This represents a $1.44 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 14.96%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, June 30th.

MFA Financial has a dividend payout ratio of 104.3% meaning the company cannot currently cover its dividend with earnings alone and is relying on its balance sheet to cover its dividend payments.

MFA Financial Stock Down 1.4%

Shares of MFA stock traded down $0.14 on Friday, reaching $9.63. The company had a trading volume of 1,257,223 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,058,806. The stock has a market capitalization of $988.04 million, a PE ratio of 11.88 and a beta of 1.66. MFA Financial has a one year low of $7.85 and a one year high of $13.45. The business's 50-day moving average is $9.38 and its 200 day moving average is $10.09.

MFA Financial (NYSE:MFA - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, May 6th. The real estate investment trust reported $0.29 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.33 by ($0.04). MFA Financial had a net margin of 16.47% and a return on equity of 9.61%. The firm had revenue of $57.54 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $48.80 million. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $0.35 EPS. On average, sell-side analysts forecast that MFA Financial will post 1.5 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research firms have recently issued reports on MFA. JMP Securities lowered their price objective on MFA Financial from $12.50 to $12.00 and set a "market outperform" rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, April 17th. Wall Street Zen downgraded MFA Financial from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Friday, March 28th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods lowered their price objective on MFA Financial from $12.50 to $12.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, May 8th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada set a $10.00 price objective on MFA Financial and gave the company a "sector perform" rating in a research note on Wednesday, May 28th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and five have given a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, MFA Financial presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $12.92.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On MFA Financial

An institutional investor recently bought a new position in MFA Financial stock. AQR Capital Management LLC bought a new position in MFA Financial, Inc. (NYSE:MFA - Free Report) during the first quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The firm bought 25,250 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock, valued at approximately $259,000. 65.28% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.