MFA Financial (NYSE:MFA) Rating Increased to Buy at StockNews.com

StockNews.com upgraded shares of MFA Financial (NYSE:MFA) from a hold rating to a buy rating in a research report report published on Thursday.

A number of other analysts also recently weighed in on MFA. Janney Montgomery Scott started coverage on MFA Financial in a research report on Thursday, January 2nd. They issued a “buy” rating and a $14.00 target price for the company. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods lowered their price objective on shares of MFA Financial from $13.50 to $12.50 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, February 20th. Finally, JMP Securities cut their price objective on shares of MFA Financial from $13.50 to $12.50 and set a “market outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, January 23rd. Six analysts have rated the stock with a buy rating, According to data from MarketBeat, MFA Financial currently has an average rating of “Buy” and an average target price of $13.70.

MFA Financial Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:MFA opened at $11.01 on Thursday. The company’s fifty day moving average price is $10.47 and its 200-day moving average price is $11.23. The firm has a market capitalization of $1.13 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 13.59 and a beta of 2.18. MFA Financial has a one year low of $9.36 and a one year high of $13.45.

MFA Financial (NYSE:MFA) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, February 19th. The real estate investment trust reported $0.38 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.40 by ($0.02). MFA Financial had a net margin of 16.47% and a return on equity of 9.61%. The firm had revenue of $50.80 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $58.06 million. As a group, equities research analysts expect that MFA Financial will post 1.5 EPS for the current year.

MFA Financial Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, April 30th. Shareholders of record on Monday, March 31st will be given a $0.36 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Monday, March 31st. This represents a $1.44 annualized dividend and a yield of 13.08%. This is an increase from MFA Financial’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.35. MFA Financial’s payout ratio is presently 177.78%.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Wellington Management Group LLP boosted its position in MFA Financial by 1.0% during the 3rd quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 11,005,138 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $139,985,000 after buying an additional 111,331 shares during the period. Vaughan Nelson Investment Management L.P. grew its stake in shares of MFA Financial by 11.0% in the fourth quarter. Vaughan Nelson Investment Management L.P. now owns 5,085,927 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $51,824,000 after purchasing an additional 502,840 shares during the last quarter. State Street Corp grew its stake in shares of MFA Financial by 6.2% in the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 2,579,818 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $33,700,000 after purchasing an additional 151,321 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC increased its holdings in MFA Financial by 0.9% during the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 2,407,455 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $30,629,000 after purchasing an additional 21,331 shares during the period. Finally, Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. raised its position in 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 purchasing an additional 60,261 shares during the last quarter. 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.