MFA Financial, Inc. (NYSE:MFA) Receives Consensus Rating of “Buy” from Analysts

MFA Financial, Inc. (NYSE:MFA) has earned an average recommendation of “Buy” from the five research firms that are presently covering the stock, Marketbeat.com reports. Five equities research analysts have rated the stock with a buy recommendation. The average 12-month target price among brokerages that have covered the stock in the last year is $13.80.

A number of equities research analysts recently issued reports on the company. Wedbush reissued an “outperform” rating and set a $15.00 price target on shares of MFA Financial in a research report on Thursday, November 7th. Janney Montgomery Scott started coverage on MFA Financial in a research report on Thursday, January 2nd. They issued a “buy” rating and a $14.00 price target on the stock. JMP Securities dropped their price target on MFA Financial from $13.50 to $12.50 and set a “market outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday. Finally, StockNews.com downgraded shares of MFA Financial from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Thursday, November 7th.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On MFA Financial

A number of hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Vaughan Nelson Investment Management L.P. boosted its position in MFA Financial by 35.4% in the third quarter. Vaughan Nelson Investment Management L.P. now owns 4,583,087 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $58,297,000 after buying an additional 1,197,220 shares in the last quarter. Barclays PLC boosted its holdings in shares of MFA Financial by 902.9% during the 3rd quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 374,481 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $4,764,000 after acquiring an additional 337,142 shares in the last quarter. Natixis Advisors LLC grew its position in MFA Financial by 38.7% during the 3rd quarter. Natixis Advisors LLC now owns 898,212 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $11,425,000 after acquiring an additional 250,535 shares during the last quarter. Segall Bryant & Hamill LLC acquired a new position in MFA Financial in the 3rd quarter worth about $2,509,000. Finally, State Street Corp raised its position in MFA Financial by 6.2% in the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 2,579,818 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $33,700,000 after purchasing an additional 151,321 shares during the last quarter. 65.28% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

MFA Financial Stock Up 0.7 %

Shares of NYSE:MFA opened at $10.19 on Monday. MFA Financial has a 12-month low of $9.36 and a 12-month high of $13.45. The company’s 50 day moving average price is $10.53 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $11.48. The firm has a market cap of $1.04 billion, a PE ratio of 6.41 and a beta of 2.11.

MFA Financial Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, January 31st. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, December 31st will be paid a dividend of $0.35 per share. This represents a $1.40 annualized dividend and a yield of 13.75%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, December 31st. MFA Financial’s payout ratio is 88.05%.

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.