MFA Financial (NYSE:MFA) Given a $10.00 Price Target by Royal Bank of Canada Analysts

Royal Bank of Canada set a $10.00 target price on MFA Financial (NYSE:MFA - Free Report) in a report published on Wednesday, MarketBeat.com reports. The brokerage currently has a sector perform rating on the real estate investment trust's stock.

MFA has been the subject of several other research reports. JMP Securities dropped their target price on shares of MFA Financial from $12.50 to $12.00 and set a "market outperform" rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, April 17th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods dropped their target price on shares of MFA Financial from $12.50 to $12.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, May 8th. Finally, Wall Street Zen downgraded shares of MFA Financial from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Friday, March 28th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and five have given a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $12.92.

MFA Financial Stock Up 0.7%

Shares of MFA traded up $0.07 during midday trading on Wednesday, hitting $9.48. The company had a trading volume of 907,791 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,038,592. The company's 50 day moving average price is $9.54 and its 200 day moving average price is $10.23. The stock has a market cap of $972.64 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of 11.70 and a beta of 1.69. MFA Financial has a 52 week low of $7.85 and a 52 week high of $13.45.

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 company had revenue of $57.54 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $48.80 million. MFA Financial had a return on equity of 9.61% and a net margin of 16.47%. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $0.35 EPS. Equities analysts anticipate that MFA Financial will post 1.5 EPS for the current fiscal year.

MFA Financial Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, April 30th. Investors of record on Monday, March 31st were given a dividend of $0.36 per share. This represents a $1.44 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 15.20%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, March 31st. This is an increase from MFA Financial's previous quarterly dividend of $0.35. MFA Financial's dividend payout ratio is currently 146.94%.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On MFA Financial

Institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the business. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. grew its position 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 valued at $19,317,000 after buying an additional 60,261 shares during the last quarter. Barclays PLC boosted its stake in MFA Financial by 902.9% during the 3rd quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 374,481 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock valued at $4,764,000 after purchasing an additional 337,142 shares during the period. Invesco Ltd. boosted its stake in MFA Financial by 16.9% during the 4th quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 1,223,112 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock valued at $12,464,000 after purchasing an additional 177,067 shares during the period. Northern Trust Corp boosted its stake in MFA Financial by 10.8% during the 4th quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 1,006,842 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock valued at $10,260,000 after purchasing an additional 97,945 shares during the period. Finally, Kingswood Wealth Advisors LLC acquired a new position in MFA Financial during the 4th quarter valued at about $428,000. 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.