MFA Financial, Inc. (NYSE:MFA) Sees Large Decrease in Short Interest

MFA Financial, Inc. (NYSE:MFA) saw a large decline in short interest during the month of April. As of April 15th, there was short interest totalling 2,190,000 shares, a decline of 14.5% from the March 31st total of 2,560,000 shares. Approximately 2.2% of the shares of the stock are sold short. Based on an average daily volume of 1,430,000 shares, the short-interest ratio is presently 1.5 days.

MFA Financial Stock Performance

MFA Financial stock opened at $9.98 on Friday. MFA Financial has a 52 week low of $7.85 and a 52 week high of $13.45. The firm has a market capitalization of $1.02 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 12.32 and a beta of 1.61. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $9.97 and a 200 day moving average price of $10.56.

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

MFA Financial Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, April 30th. Stockholders of record on Monday, March 31st were issued a $0.36 dividend. This is an increase from MFA Financial’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.35. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, March 31st. This represents a $1.44 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 14.43%. MFA Financial’s dividend payout ratio is currently 177.78%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research firms recently commented on MFA. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods cut their target price on shares of MFA Financial from $13.50 to $12.50 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, February 20th. StockNews.com downgraded MFA Financial from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, March 28th. Finally, JMP Securities decreased their target price on MFA Financial from $12.50 to $12.00 and set a “market outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, April 17th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating and five have issued a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $13.60.

Institutional Trading of MFA Financial

Hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Bailard Inc. acquired a new position in MFA Financial in the 1st quarter valued at approximately $443,000. MQS Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of MFA Financial in the first quarter worth $131,000. Nisa Investment Advisors LLC raised its holdings in shares of MFA Financial by 20.0% during the first quarter. Nisa Investment Advisors LLC now owns 49,670 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $528,000 after acquiring an additional 8,263 shares in the last quarter. Penserra Capital Management LLC boosted its position in MFA Financial by 13.2% during the first quarter. Penserra Capital Management LLC now owns 124,065 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $1,272,000 after purchasing an additional 14,438 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Bank of New York Mellon Corp grew its stake in MFA Financial by 5.8% in the first quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 507,580 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $5,208,000 after purchasing an additional 27,890 shares in the last quarter. 65.28% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.