MFA Financial (NYSE:MFA) Earns "Market Outperform" Rating from JMP Securities

JMP Securities reaffirmed their market outperform rating on shares of MFA Financial (NYSE:MFA - Free Report) in a report published on Thursday morning, Benzinga reports. They currently have a $12.50 target price on the real estate investment trust's stock.

MFA Financial Trading Up 0.3 %

Shares of MFA traded up $0.03 during trading hours on Thursday, hitting $10.28. The company had a trading volume of 618,527 shares, compared to its average volume of 770,107. The company has a market capitalization of $1.05 billion, a PE ratio of 25.75 and a beta of 2.10. MFA Financial has a one year low of $8.41 and a one year high of $11.90. The company's fifty day moving average price is $11.05 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $10.69.

MFA Financial (NYSE:MFA - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 22nd. The real estate investment trust reported $0.46 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.34 by $0.12. The firm had revenue of $169.88 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $43.75 million. MFA Financial had a return on equity of 9.44% and a net margin of 13.24%. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $0.46 EPS. Analysts forecast that MFA Financial will post 1.47 earnings per share for the current year.

MFA Financial Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, April 30th. Investors of record on Thursday, March 28th will be paid a dividend of $0.35 per share. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, March 27th. This represents a $1.40 annualized dividend and a yield of 13.62%. MFA Financial's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 350.00%.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. ProShare Advisors LLC grew its stake in MFA Financial by 10.2% during the 2nd quarter. ProShare Advisors LLC now owns 13,313 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock worth $150,000 after buying an additional 1,232 shares during the last quarter. Capital Square LLC grew its stake in MFA Financial by 3.4% during the 4th quarter. Capital Square LLC now owns 39,198 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock worth $442,000 after buying an additional 1,294 shares during the last quarter. Commonwealth Equity Services LLC grew its stake in MFA Financial by 8.7% during the 3rd quarter. Commonwealth Equity Services LLC now owns 18,227 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock worth $175,000 after buying an additional 1,456 shares during the last quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD grew its stake in MFA Financial by 2.9% during the 1st quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 64,525 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock worth $641,000 after buying an additional 1,794 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Nisa Investment Advisors LLC grew its stake in MFA Financial by 4.0% during the 3rd quarter. Nisa Investment Advisors LLC now owns 51,100 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock worth $491,000 after buying an additional 1,973 shares during the last quarter. 65.28% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.