MFA Financial, Inc. (NYSE:MFA) Receives $13.70 Consensus Target Price from Analysts

Shares of MFA Financial, Inc. (NYSE:MFA - Get Free Report) have been assigned an average recommendation of "Buy" from the five analysts that are currently covering the company, Marketbeat Ratings reports. Five research analysts have rated the stock with a buy recommendation. The average 1 year target price among brokerages that have issued a report on the stock in the last year is $13.70.

Several analysts recently issued reports on MFA shares. JMP Securities reduced their price target on shares of MFA Financial from $13.50 to $12.50 and set a "market outperform" rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, January 23rd. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods lowered their price target on MFA Financial from $13.50 to $12.50 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a report on Thursday, February 20th. StockNews.com lowered MFA Financial from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Friday, March 28th. Finally, Janney Montgomery Scott began coverage on shares of MFA Financial in a report on Thursday, January 2nd. They issued a "buy" rating and a $14.00 target price for the company.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On MFA Financial

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. GAMMA Investing LLC grew its stake in shares of MFA Financial by 2,416.0% in the first quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 14,190 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock worth $1,383,000 after purchasing an additional 13,626 shares during the last quarter. PharVision Advisers LLC acquired a new stake in shares of MFA Financial in the fourth quarter valued at about $140,000. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC raised its position in shares of MFA Financial by 15.2% during the fourth quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC now owns 181,431 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock worth $1,849,000 after acquiring an additional 23,950 shares during the last quarter. State of Wyoming acquired a new position in shares of MFA Financial in the fourth quarter worth approximately $137,000. Finally, ProShare Advisors LLC lifted its stake in shares of MFA Financial by 49.0% in the fourth quarter. ProShare Advisors LLC now owns 28,829 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock worth $294,000 after acquiring an additional 9,485 shares during the period. 65.28% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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MFA Financial Price Performance

MFA Financial stock traded up $0.05 during midday trading on Friday, hitting $8.67. The company's stock had a trading volume of 2,028,502 shares, compared to its average volume of 954,312. The company has a market cap of $888.37 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of 10.70 and a beta of 1.61. The company has a 50-day moving average price of $10.30 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $10.83. MFA Financial has a 1-year low of $7.85 and a 1-year high of $13.45.

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

MFA Financial Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, April 30th. Investors of record on Monday, March 31st will be given a dividend of $0.36 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, March 31st. This is an increase from MFA Financial's previous quarterly dividend of $0.35. This represents a $1.44 annualized dividend and a yield of 16.62%. MFA Financial's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 177.78%.

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.