UBS Group Increases MFA Financial (NYSE:MFA) Price Target to $10.50

Key Points

• UBS Group has raised the price target for MFA Financial (NYSE:MFA) from $10.00 to $10.50, indicating a potential upside of 4.01% from the current stock price, while maintaining a "neutral" rating.
• MFA Financial's stock has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" with a price target of $12.14, reflecting a mix of ratings from various analysts.
• The company reported earnings of $0.24 per share for the most recent quarter, which was below the consensus estimate of $0.29, and had revenue of $61.28 million compared to expected $59.50 million.

MFA Financial (NYSE:MFA - Get Free Report) had its target price boosted by equities researchers at UBS Group from $10.00 to $10.50 in a report issued on Wednesday, MarketBeat reports. The firm currently has a "neutral" rating on the real estate investment trust's stock. UBS Group's price objective indicates a potential upside of 0.62% from the stock's current price.

Several other analysts have also recently issued reports on MFA. Jones Trading reissued a "hold" rating on shares of MFA Financial in a research note on Monday, August 11th. Royal Bank Of Canada set a $10.00 target price on shares of MFA Financial and gave the company a "sector perform" rating in a report on Wednesday, May 28th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods cut shares of MFA Financial from an "outperform" rating to a "market perform" rating and decreased their price objective for the company from $12.00 to $10.00 in a research report on Thursday, July 10th. Finally, JMP Securities cut their target price on shares of MFA Financial from $12.00 to $11.00 and set a "market outperform" rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, July 17th. Five analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and three have issued a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, MFA Financial presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $12.14.

MFA Financial Trading Up 0.3%

Shares of NYSE MFA traded up $0.04 during midday trading on Wednesday, reaching $10.44. 645,138 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,289,803. The stock has a market cap of $1.07 billion, a P/E ratio of 12.01 and a beta of 1.68. MFA Financial has a 1 year low of $7.85 and a 1 year high of $13.45. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $9.61 and a 200 day simple moving average of $9.73.

MFA Financial (NYSE:MFA - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, August 6th. The real estate investment trust reported $0.24 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts' consensus estimates of $0.29 by ($0.05). MFA Financial had a net margin of 17.62% and a return on equity of 8.61%. The firm had revenue of $61.28 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $59.50 million. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $0.32 EPS. As a group, analysts forecast that MFA Financial will post 1.5 earnings per share for the current year.

Institutional Trading of MFA Financial

Several large investors have recently modified their holdings of the company. Osaic Holdings Inc. increased its holdings in shares of MFA Financial by 12.4% during the 2nd quarter. Osaic Holdings Inc. now owns 40,528 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock worth $384,000 after purchasing an additional 4,479 shares during the period. Headlands Technologies LLC grew its holdings in MFA Financial by 62.3% during the 2nd quarter. Headlands Technologies LLC now owns 2,992 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock worth $28,000 after acquiring an additional 1,149 shares during the period. Tower Research Capital LLC TRC boosted its position in shares of MFA Financial by 23.9% during the second quarter. Tower Research Capital LLC TRC now owns 7,340 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock worth $69,000 after purchasing an additional 1,417 shares in the last quarter. Corient Private Wealth LLC boosted its position in shares of MFA Financial by 1.4% during the second quarter. Corient Private Wealth LLC now owns 102,007 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock worth $965,000 after purchasing an additional 1,420 shares in the last quarter. Finally, BNP Paribas Financial Markets grew its stake in shares of MFA Financial by 63.5% during the 2nd quarter. BNP Paribas Financial Markets now owns 9,808 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock worth $93,000 after acquiring an additional 3,811 shares in the last quarter. 65.28% of the stock is 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.