MFA Financial (NYSE:MFA) Raised to “Buy” at StockNews.com

MFA Financial (NYSE:MFA) was upgraded by research analysts at StockNews.com from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report issued on Thursday.

Other equities research analysts have also issued research reports about the stock. 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. JMP Securities lowered their target price on shares of MFA Financial from $13.50 to $12.50 and set a “market outperform” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, January 23rd. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods reduced their price target on shares of MFA Financial from $13.50 to $12.50 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, February 20th. Six analysts have rated the stock with a buy rating, According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Buy” and a consensus target price of $13.70.

MFA Financial Trading Down 1.3 %

MFA Financial stock opened at $10.86 on Thursday. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $10.49 and a 200-day moving average price of $11.22. The firm has a market capitalization of $1.11 billion, a PE ratio of 13.40 and a beta of 2.18. MFA Financial has a 12-month low of $9.36 and a 12-month high of $13.45.

MFA Financial (NYSE:MFA) 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). The firm had revenue of $50.80 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $58.06 million. MFA Financial had a return on equity of 9.61% and a net margin of 16.47%. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that MFA Financial will post 1.5 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in MFA. Bank of Montreal Can boosted its holdings in shares of MFA Financial by 10.5% in the 4th quarter. Bank of Montreal Can now owns 11,890 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $121,000 after buying an additional 1,134 shares in the last quarter. Independent Advisor Alliance lifted its stake in MFA Financial by 0.7% during the 4th quarter. Independent Advisor Alliance now owns 174,183 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $1,775,000 after acquiring an additional 1,224 shares during the period. Zacks Investment Management lifted its stake in MFA Financial by 12.7% during the 3rd quarter. Zacks Investment Management now owns 11,377 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $145,000 after acquiring an additional 1,281 shares during the period. Brown Brothers Harriman & Co. acquired a new stake in MFA Financial during the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $25,000. Finally, Rhumbline Advisers increased its holdings in shares of MFA Financial by 1.4% during the 4th quarter. Rhumbline Advisers now owns 166,046 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $1,692,000 after purchasing an additional 2,287 shares in the last quarter. 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.