MFA Financial, Inc. to Issue Quarterly Dividend of $0.35 (NYSE:MFA)

MFA Financial, Inc. (NYSE:MFA) announced a quarterly dividend on Wednesday, December 11th,NASDAQ Dividends reports. Investors of record on Tuesday, December 31st will be given a dividend of 0.35 per share by the real estate investment trust on Friday, January 31st. This represents a $1.40 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 13.42%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, December 31st.

MFA Financial has increased its dividend by an average of 8.4% per year over the last three years. MFA Financial has a payout ratio of 85.9% meaning its dividend is currently covered by earnings, but may not be in the future if the company’s earnings fall. Equities analysts expect MFA Financial to earn $1.47 per share next year, which means the company should continue to be able to cover its $1.40 annual dividend with an expected future payout ratio of 95.2%.

MFA Financial Stock Performance

Shares of MFA stock opened at $10.43 on Friday. The firm has a market capitalization of $1.06 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 6.56 and a beta of 2.11. MFA Financial has a one year low of $10.09 and a one year high of $13.45. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $11.26 and a 200 day moving average price of $11.58.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

MFA has been the subject of a number of research analyst reports. Raymond James upped their price objective on MFA Financial from $13.00 to $14.50 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, September 19th. StockNews.com lowered MFA Financial from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Thursday, November 7th. Wedbush reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and issued a $15.00 price objective on shares of MFA Financial in a research note on Thursday, November 7th. Finally, JMP Securities increased their target price on shares of MFA Financial from $12.50 to $13.50 and gave the stock a “market outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, September 6th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating and four have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, MFA Financial presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $14.00.

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.