MFA Financial (NYSE:MFA) Given New $10.00 Price Target at UBS Group

MFA Financial (NYSE:MFA - Free Report) had its price target boosted by UBS Group from $9.50 to $10.00 in a research note released on Thursday,Benzinga reports. UBS Group currently has a neutral rating on the real estate investment trust's stock.

A number of other equities research analysts have also commented on the company. JMP Securities dropped their price target on MFA Financial from $12.50 to $12.00 and set a "market outperform" rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, April 17th. Wall Street Zen lowered MFA Financial from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Friday, March 28th. Jones Trading raised MFA Financial to a "hold" rating in a research report on Monday, July 7th. Royal Bank Of Canada set a $10.00 target price on MFA Financial and gave the company a "sector perform" rating in a research report on Wednesday, May 28th. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods lowered MFA Financial from an "outperform" rating to a "market perform" rating and dropped their target price for the company from $12.00 to $10.00 in a research report on Thursday. Five research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and four have given a buy rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, MFA Financial has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $12.21.

MFA Financial Trading Down 1.4%

Shares of NYSE MFA traded down $0.13 during mid-day trading on Thursday, reaching $9.35. 1,381,548 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,117,161. The firm has a market capitalization of $959.81 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of 9.54 and a beta of 1.63. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $9.54 and a 200 day simple moving average of $9.92. MFA Financial has a twelve month low of $7.85 and a twelve month high of $13.45.

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

MFA Financial Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, July 31st. Stockholders of record on Monday, June 30th will be paid a dividend of $0.36 per share. The ex-dividend date is Monday, June 30th. This represents a $1.44 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 15.40%. MFA Financial's dividend payout ratio is currently 146.94%.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the business. Golden State Wealth Management LLC bought a new position in shares of MFA Financial during the 1st quarter worth approximately $25,000. National Bank of Canada FI bought a new position in shares of MFA Financial during the 4th quarter worth approximately $27,000. Sterling Capital Management LLC boosted its stake in shares of MFA Financial by 823.4% during the 4th quarter. Sterling Capital Management LLC now owns 3,278 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock worth $33,000 after acquiring an additional 2,923 shares during the period. Quarry LP bought a new position in shares of MFA Financial during the 4th quarter worth approximately $36,000. Finally, New Age Alpha Advisors LLC bought a new position in shares of MFA Financial during the 4th quarter worth approximately $121,000. 65.28% of the stock is currently owned by 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.