MFA Financial, Inc. (NYSE:MFA) Receives Consensus Recommendation of “Buy” from Brokerages

MFA Financial, Inc. (NYSE:MFA) has earned a consensus recommendation of “Buy” from the five brokerages that are covering the company, Marketbeat reports. Five analysts have rated the stock with a buy rating. The average 12 month target price among brokerages that have issued ratings on the stock in the last year is $13.70.

A number of research analysts recently weighed in on MFA shares. JMP Securities reduced their price objective on MFA Financial from $13.50 to $12.50 and set a “market outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, January 23rd. Janney Montgomery Scott assumed coverage on shares of MFA Financial in a research note on Thursday, January 2nd. They set a “buy” rating and a $14.00 target price on the stock. StockNews.com raised shares of MFA Financial from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, March 20th. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods decreased 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.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On MFA Financial

Several institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Bank of Montreal Can raised its stake in MFA Financial by 10.5% during the fourth quarter. Bank of Montreal Can now owns 11,890 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $121,000 after purchasing an additional 1,134 shares in the last quarter. Independent Advisor Alliance boosted its stake in MFA Financial by 0.7% during the fourth quarter. Independent Advisor Alliance now owns 174,183 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $1,775,000 after buying an additional 1,224 shares during the period. Zacks Investment Management increased its position in MFA Financial by 12.7% during the third quarter. Zacks Investment Management now owns 11,377 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $145,000 after acquiring an additional 1,281 shares during the last quarter. Brown Brothers Harriman & Co. purchased a new stake in shares of MFA Financial in the third quarter valued at $25,000. Finally, Rhumbline Advisers grew its stake in shares of MFA Financial by 1.4% during the fourth quarter. Rhumbline Advisers now owns 166,046 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $1,692,000 after buying an additional 2,287 shares during the last quarter. 65.28% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

MFA Financial Trading Up 0.7 %

Shares of MFA Financial stock opened at $10.95 on Tuesday. MFA Financial has a 12-month low of $9.36 and a 12-month high of $13.45. The company has a market cap of $1.12 billion, a P/E ratio of 13.51 and a beta of 2.18. The company’s fifty day simple moving average is $10.52 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $11.20.

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

MFA Financial Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, April 30th. Stockholders of record on Monday, March 31st will be paid a $0.36 dividend. This is a positive change from MFA Financial’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.35. The ex-dividend date is Monday, March 31st. This represents a $1.44 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 13.16%. MFA Financial’s dividend payout ratio is 177.78%.

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.