MFA Financial (NYSE:MFA) Given Market Outperform Rating at JMP Securities

JMP Securities reissued their market outperform rating on shares of MFA Financial (NYSE:MFA) in a research note issued to investors on Thursday morning, Benzinga reports. The firm currently has a $12.50 target price on the real estate investment trust’s stock.

MFA Financial Trading Up 1.5 %

MFA opened at $10.43 on Thursday. The stock has a 50-day moving average of $11.04 and a 200 day moving average of $10.72. MFA Financial has a 12 month low of $8.41 and a 12 month high of $11.90. The firm has a market cap of $1.06 billion, a P/E ratio of 26.08 and a beta of 2.10.

MFA Financial (NYSE:MFA) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 22nd. The real estate investment trust reported $0.46 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.34 by $0.12. The business had revenue of $169.88 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $43.75 million. MFA Financial had a return on equity of 9.44% and a net margin of 13.24%. During the same period last year, the company earned $0.46 EPS. On average, research analysts forecast that MFA Financial will post 1.47 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

MFA Financial Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, April 30th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, March 28th will be given a dividend of $0.35 per share. This represents a $1.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 13.42%. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, March 27th. MFA Financial’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 350.00%.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On MFA Financial

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in MFA. ProShare Advisors LLC boosted its stake in shares of MFA Financial by 10.2% during the 2nd quarter. ProShare Advisors LLC now owns 13,313 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $150,000 after purchasing an additional 1,232 shares during the period. Capital Square LLC boosted its position in shares of MFA Financial by 3.4% during the fourth quarter. Capital Square LLC now owns 39,198 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $442,000 after buying an additional 1,294 shares during the period. Commonwealth Equity Services LLC grew its stake in shares of MFA Financial by 8.7% during the third quarter. Commonwealth Equity Services LLC now owns 18,227 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $175,000 after buying an additional 1,456 shares during the last quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD raised its holdings in shares of MFA Financial by 2.9% in the first quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 64,525 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $641,000 after buying an additional 1,794 shares during the period. Finally, Nisa Investment Advisors LLC lifted its stake in shares of MFA Financial by 4.0% during the 3rd quarter. Nisa Investment Advisors LLC now owns 51,100 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $491,000 after acquiring an additional 1,973 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other 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.