MFA Financial (MFA) Competitors

Two Harbors Investment (NYSE:TWO) and MFA Financial (NYSE:MFA) are both small-cap finance companies, but which is the superior investment? We will contrast the two companies based on the strength of their earnings, profitability, analyst recommendations, community ranking, dividends, institutional ownership, media sentiment, valuation and risk.

Which has more risk & volatility, TWO or MFA?

Two Harbors Investment has a beta of 1.85, meaning that its stock price is 85% more volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, MFA Financial has a beta of 2.16, meaning that its stock price is 116% more volatile than the S&P 500.

Which has higher earnings and valuation, TWO or MFA?

MFA Financial has lower revenue, but higher earnings than Two Harbors Investment. MFA Financial is trading at a lower price-to-earnings ratio than Two Harbors Investment, indicating that it is currently the more affordable of the two stocks.

Company	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
Two Harbors Investment	$480.36M	2.74	-$106.37M	$0.41	31.02
MFA Financial	$229.72M	5.43	$80.16M	-$0.08	-152.75

Does the media favor TWO or MFA?

In the previous week, Two Harbors Investment and Two Harbors Investment both had 4 articles in the media. Two Harbors Investment's average media sentiment score of 0.89 beat MFA Financial's score of 0.25 indicating that Two Harbors Investment is being referred to more favorably in the media.

Company	Very Positive	Positive	Neutral	Negative	Very Negative	Overall Sentiment
Two Harbors Investment	1 Very Positive mention(s)	1 Positive mention(s)	1 Neutral mention(s)	0 Negative mention(s)	0 Very Negative mention(s)	Positive
MFA Financial	1 Very Positive mention(s)	1 Positive mention(s)	1 Neutral mention(s)	1 Negative mention(s)	0 Very Negative mention(s)	Neutral

Do analysts prefer TWO or MFA?

Two Harbors Investment currently has a consensus target price of $15.04, indicating a potential upside of 18.25%. MFA Financial has a consensus target price of $13.40, indicating a potential upside of 9.66%. Given Two Harbors Investment's higher probable upside, research analysts plainly believe Two Harbors Investment is more favorable than MFA Financial.

Company	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Two Harbors Investment	0 Sell rating(s)	3 Hold rating(s)	4 Buy rating(s)	0 Strong Buy rating(s)	2.57
MFA Financial	0 Sell rating(s)	1 Hold rating(s)	4 Buy rating(s)	0 Strong Buy rating(s)	2.80

Is TWO or MFA a better dividend stock?

Two Harbors Investment pays an annual dividend of $1.80 per share and has a dividend yield of 14.2%. MFA Financial pays an annual dividend of $1.40 per share and has a dividend yield of 11.5%. Two Harbors Investment pays out 439.0% of its earnings in the form of a dividend, suggesting it may not have sufficient earnings to cover its dividend payment in the future. MFA Financial pays out -1,750.0% of its earnings in the form of a dividend.

Does the MarketBeat Community prefer TWO or MFA?

Two Harbors Investment received 156 more outperform votes than MFA Financial when rated by MarketBeat users. Likewise, 67.58% of users gave Two Harbors Investment an outperform vote while only 58.36% of users gave MFA Financial an outperform vote.

Company	Underperform	Outperform
Two Harbors Investment	Outperform Votes 519 67.58%	Underperform Votes 249 32.42%
MFA Financial	Outperform Votes 363 58.36%	Underperform Votes 259 41.64%

Do institutionals and insiders hold more shares of TWO or MFA?

64.2% of Two Harbors Investment shares are owned by institutional investors. Comparatively, 65.3% of MFA Financial shares are owned by institutional investors. 0.6% of Two Harbors Investment shares are owned by company insiders. Comparatively, 0.7% of MFA Financial shares are owned by company insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that hedge funds, large money managers and endowments believe a stock is poised for long-term growth.

Is TWO or MFA more profitable?

Two Harbors Investment has a net margin of 27.71% compared to MFA Financial's net margin of 14.22%. MFA Financial's return on equity of 10.02% beat Two Harbors Investment's return on equity.

Company	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Two Harbors Investment	27.71%	3.64%	0.43%
MFA Financial	14.22%	10.02%	1.76%

Summary

Two Harbors Investment and MFA Financial tied by winning 9 of the 18 factors compared between the two stocks.