MFA Financial, Inc. (NYSE:MFA) Raises Dividend to $0.36 Per Share

MFA Financial, Inc. (NYSE:MFA - Get Free Report) declared a quarterly dividend on Thursday, March 6th, RTT News reports. Shareholders of record on Monday, March 31st will be paid a dividend of 0.36 per share by the real estate investment trust on Wednesday, April 30th. This represents a $1.44 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 13.23%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, March 31st. This is a 2.9% increase from MFA Financial's previous quarterly dividend of $0.35.

MFA Financial has increased its dividend payment by an average of 206.1% per year over the last three years. MFA Financial has a dividend payout ratio of 91.5% meaning its dividend is currently covered by earnings, but may not be in the future if the company's earnings tumble.

MFA Financial Stock Performance

Shares of MFA stock traded down $0.04 during trading on Monday, hitting $10.89. The company had a trading volume of 1,257,997 shares, compared to its average volume of 800,381. The stock's 50-day moving average price is $10.34 and its 200 day moving average price is $11.31. MFA Financial has a one year low of $9.36 and a one year high of $13.45. The firm has a market capitalization of $1.12 billion, a P/E ratio of 13.44 and a beta of 2.18.

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 for the quarter, missing analysts' consensus estimates of $0.40 by ($0.02). MFA Financial had a net margin of 16.47% and a return on equity of 9.61%. The company had revenue of $50.80 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $58.06 million. On average, research analysts anticipate that MFA Financial will post 1.5 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

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Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities analysts have recently commented on the stock. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods dropped 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 report on Thursday, February 20th. JMP Securities lowered their price objective on shares of MFA Financial from $13.50 to $12.50 and set a "market outperform" rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, January 23rd. Finally, Janney Montgomery Scott initiated coverage on MFA Financial in a report on Thursday, January 2nd. They issued a "buy" rating and a $14.00 target price on the stock. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating and five have given a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, MFA Financial presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $13.70.

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.