MFA Financial (NYSE:MFA) Shares Gap Down to $10.95

Shares of MFA Financial, Inc. (NYSE:MFA - Get Free Report) gapped down before the market opened on Monday . The stock had previously closed at $10.95, but opened at $10.59. MFA Financial shares last traded at $10.77, with a volume of 219,008 shares.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Separately, JMP Securities reaffirmed a "market outperform" rating and set a $12.50 price objective on shares of MFA Financial in a report on Thursday, April 18th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and four have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $12.00.

MFA Financial Price Performance

The firm has a 50-day simple moving average of $11.01 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $10.85. The company has a market cap of $1.11 billion, a PE ratio of 27.10 and a beta of 2.10.

MFA Financial (NYSE:MFA - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 22nd. The real estate investment trust reported $0.46 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $0.34 by $0.12. The business had revenue of $169.88 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $43.75 million. MFA Financial had a return on equity of 9.44% and a net margin of 13.24%. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $0.46 earnings per share. Equities research analysts forecast that MFA Financial, Inc. will post 1.47 EPS for the current year.

MFA Financial Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, April 30th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, March 28th were given a $0.35 dividend. This represents a $1.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 12.92%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, March 27th. MFA Financial's dividend payout ratio is currently 350.00%.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On MFA Financial

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the business. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its position in shares of MFA Financial by 1.7% in the third quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 9,946,143 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock valued at $95,582,000 after purchasing an additional 163,555 shares during the period. UBS Group AG grew its position in MFA Financial by 49.9% during the third quarter. UBS Group AG now owns 290,656 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock valued at $2,793,000 after acquiring an additional 96,711 shares during the period. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. grew its position in MFA Financial by 8.6% during the third quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 1,678,677 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock valued at $16,132,000 after acquiring an additional 132,826 shares during the period. Invesco Ltd. grew its position in MFA Financial by 18.1% during the third quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 1,329,731 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock valued at $12,779,000 after acquiring an additional 203,681 shares during the period. Finally, Nisa Investment Advisors LLC grew its position in MFA Financial by 34.6% during the fourth quarter. Nisa Investment Advisors LLC now owns 68,774 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock valued at $775,000 after acquiring an additional 17,674 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 65.28% of the company's stock.

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.