MFA Financial (NYSE:MFA) Shares Gap Down – What’s Next?

MFA Financial, Inc. (NYSE:MFA)’s share price gapped down before the market opened on Wednesday . The stock had previously closed at $9.64, but opened at $9.30. MFA Financial shares last traded at $9.3350, with a volume of 322,278 shares traded.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities analysts have commented on the stock. UBS Group reduced their price target on shares of MFA Financial from $10.50 to $10.25 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, November 18th. Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of MFA Financial from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Monday, November 10th. Finally, Weiss Ratings reissued a “sell (d+)” rating on shares of MFA Financial in a report on Monday. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, three have assigned a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, MFA Financial has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $11.05.

MFA Financial Price Performance

The company has a market capitalization of $951.65 million, a P/E ratio of 10.96 and a beta of 1.61. The stock’s 50 day simple moving average is $9.38 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $9.50.

MFA Financial (NYSE:MFA) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, November 6th. The real estate investment trust reported $0.20 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.30 by ($0.10). MFA Financial had a net margin of 17.51% and a return on equity of 7.26%. The company had revenue of $101.03 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $57.40 million. During the same period last year, the company earned $0.37 earnings per share. As a group, equities research analysts expect that MFA Financial, Inc. will post 1.5 earnings per share for the current year.

MFA Financial Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, January 30th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, December 31st will be paid a $0.36 dividend. This represents a $1.44 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 15.5%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, December 31st. MFA Financial’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 169.41%.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On MFA Financial

Several hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Balyasny Asset Management L.P. grew its position in shares of MFA Financial by 53.1% during the 2nd quarter. Balyasny Asset Management L.P. now owns 2,820,393 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $26,681,000 after buying an additional 977,820 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its stake in MFA Financial by 2.3% in the second quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 2,489,686 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $23,555,000 after acquiring an additional 54,944 shares during the last quarter. Invesco Ltd. grew its holdings in MFA Financial by 9.2% during the 2nd quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 1,647,612 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $15,586,000 after acquiring an additional 139,156 shares during the period. Wolverine Asset Management LLC raised its position in shares of MFA Financial by 57.5% during the 3rd quarter. Wolverine Asset Management LLC now owns 1,513,503 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $13,909,000 after acquiring an additional 552,517 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Citigroup Inc. raised its position in shares of MFA Financial by 440.1% during the 3rd quarter. Citigroup Inc. now owns 1,345,561 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $12,366,000 after acquiring an additional 1,096,443 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 65.28% of the company’s stock.

MFA Financial Company Profile

MFA Financial, Inc, headquartered in New York City, is a real estate investment trust that specializes in investing in residential mortgage loans and mortgage-related securities. The company’s primary objective is to generate attractive risk-adjusted returns through net interest income and capital appreciation. As a mortgage REIT, MFA Financial focuses on constructing a diversified portfolio of agency and non-agency residential mortgage assets, leveraging its expertise in acquiring, financing and servicing mortgage products.

MFA Financial’s investment portfolio encompasses a wide range of mortgage instruments, including adjustable-rate and fixed-rate mortgage loans, interest-only securities, and agency mortgage-backed securities guaranteed by government-sponsored entities.