Jones Trading Initiates Coverage on MFA Financial (NYSE:MFA)

Stock analysts at Jones Trading initiated coverage on shares of MFA Financial (NYSE:MFA - Get Free Report) in a research report issued on Monday,Benzinga reports. The brokerage set a "hold" rating on the real estate investment trust's stock.

Other equities analysts have also recently issued reports about the stock. Royal Bank Of Canada set a $10.00 price target on shares of MFA Financial and gave the stock a "sector perform" rating in a research note on Wednesday, May 28th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods lowered their price objective on shares of MFA Financial from $12.50 to $12.00 and set an "outperform" rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, May 8th. JMP Securities lowered 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 research note on Thursday, April 17th. Finally, Wall Street Zen cut shares of MFA Financial from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Friday, March 28th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and five have assigned a buy rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $12.92.

MFA Financial Stock Performance

MFA Financial stock traded up $0.12 during trading hours on Monday, reaching $9.65. 445,166 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,332,224. MFA Financial has a 52-week low of $7.85 and a 52-week high of $13.45. The stock has a market cap of $990.57 million, a P/E ratio of 9.85 and a beta of 1.63. The firm's 50 day moving average is $9.57 and its 200 day moving average is $9.94.

MFA Financial (NYSE:MFA - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, May 6th. The real estate investment trust reported $0.29 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts' consensus estimates of $0.33 by ($0.04). MFA Financial had a return on equity of 9.44% and a net margin of 18.86%. The company had revenue of $57.54 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $48.80 million. During the same period last year, the company earned $0.35 earnings per share. Equities research analysts expect that MFA Financial will post 1.5 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On MFA Financial

Several hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the company. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted 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 purchasing an additional 70,847 shares during the last quarter. Vaughan Nelson Investment Management L.P. boosted its stake in shares of MFA Financial by 18.6% during the 1st 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 purchasing an additional 944,608 shares during the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. boosted its stake in shares of MFA Financial by 3.3% during the 4th quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 1,895,670 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock worth $19,317,000 after purchasing an additional 60,261 shares during the last quarter. Balyasny Asset Management L.P. acquired a new stake in shares of MFA Financial in the fourth quarter worth approximately $18,325,000. Finally, MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. boosted its position in shares of MFA Financial by 4.6% in the fourth quarter. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. now owns 1,571,831 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock worth $16,017,000 after acquiring an additional 68,846 shares during the last quarter. 65.28% of the stock is 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.