MFA Financial, Inc. (NYSE:MFA) Receives Consensus Recommendation of “Moderate Buy” from Brokerages

MFA Financial, Inc. (NYSE:MFA) has earned an average rating of “Moderate Buy” from the five research firms that are currently covering the firm, Marketbeat Ratings reports. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating and four have issued a buy rating on the company. The average 12-month target price among brokerages that have issued ratings on the stock in the last year is $13.40.

MFA has been the subject of several recent analyst reports. Wedbush boosted their price target on MFA Financial from $13.00 to $14.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, August 9th. Raymond James boosted their target price on MFA Financial from $13.00 to $14.50 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, September 19th. StockNews.com raised shares of MFA Financial from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, August 9th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods boosted their price objective on shares of MFA Financial from $12.00 to $13.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, August 9th. Finally, JMP Securities raised their target price on shares of MFA Financial from $12.50 to $13.50 and gave the stock a “market outperform” rating in a report on Friday, September 6th.

MFA Financial Stock Down 0.0 %

Shares of MFA opened at $12.23 on Thursday. The company has a market capitalization of $1.25 billion, a P/E ratio of -152.81 and a beta of 2.16. MFA Financial has a twelve month low of $8.41 and a twelve month high of $13.45. The firm has a 50 day moving average of $12.17 and a 200 day moving average of $11.33.

MFA Financial Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, October 31st. Stockholders of record on Friday, September 27th will be paid a dividend of $0.35 per share. This represents a $1.40 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 11.45%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, September 27th. MFA Financial’s dividend payout ratio is presently -1,750.00%.

Institutional Trading of MFA Financial

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of MFA. Wellington Management Group LLP grew its stake in shares of MFA Financial by 160.7% during the 4th quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 8,779,082 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $98,940,000 after acquiring an additional 5,411,692 shares during the period. Vaughan Nelson Investment Management L.P. increased its stake in shares of MFA Financial by 14.8% in the first quarter. Vaughan Nelson Investment Management L.P. now owns 3,180,567 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $36,289,000 after purchasing an additional 411,205 shares in the last quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp lifted its stake in shares of MFA Financial by 17.7% during the 2nd quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp now owns 822,696 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $8,753,000 after buying an additional 123,790 shares in the last quarter. Waterfall Asset Management LLC bought a new position in MFA Financial in the 2nd quarter worth $1,150,000. Finally, Jupiter Asset Management Ltd. purchased a new stake in MFA Financial in the 1st quarter worth $860,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 65.28% of the company’s stock.

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.