MFA Financial (NYSE:MFA) Upgraded at Jones Trading

Jones Trading upgraded shares of MFA Financial (NYSE:MFA) to a hold rating in a report published on Monday morning, MarketBeat reports.

Other equities research analysts have also recently issued research reports about the company. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods reduced their price objective on MFA Financial from $12.50 to $12.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, May 8th. JMP Securities reduced their price objective on MFA Financial from $12.50 to $12.00 and set a “market outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, April 17th. Wall Street Zen cut MFA Financial from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, March 28th. Finally, Royal Bank Of Canada set a $10.00 target price on MFA Financial and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, May 28th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and five have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $12.92.

MFA Financial Trading Up 0.5%

Shares of MFA stock opened at $9.67 on Monday. The business’s 50-day moving average price is $9.56 and its 200-day moving average price is $9.94. MFA Financial has a 12 month low of $7.85 and a 12 month high of $13.45. The firm has a market capitalization of $992.63 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of 9.87 and a beta of 1.63.

MFA Financial (NYSE:MFA) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, May 6th. The real estate investment trust reported $0.29 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.33 by ($0.04). The company had revenue of $57.54 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $48.80 million. MFA Financial had a return on equity of 9.44% and a net margin of 18.86%. During the same quarter last year, the business earned $0.35 earnings per share. On average, sell-side analysts predict that MFA Financial will post 1.5 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

MFA Financial Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, July 31st. Investors of record on Monday, June 30th will be paid a dividend of $0.36 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, June 30th. This represents a $1.44 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 14.89%. MFA Financial’s payout ratio is 146.94%.

Institutional Trading of MFA Financial

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in MFA. Golden State Wealth Management LLC purchased a new position in shares of MFA Financial in the 1st quarter worth about $25,000. National Bank of Canada FI purchased a new position in shares of MFA Financial in the 4th quarter worth about $27,000. Sterling Capital Management LLC boosted its holdings in shares of MFA Financial by 823.4% in the 4th quarter. Sterling Capital Management LLC now owns 3,278 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $33,000 after purchasing an additional 2,923 shares in the last quarter. Quarry LP purchased a new position in shares of MFA Financial in the 4th quarter worth about $36,000. Finally, New Age Alpha Advisors LLC purchased a new position in shares of MFA Financial in the 4th quarter worth about $121,000. 65.28% of the stock is currently owned by 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.