MFA Financial (NYSE:MFA) Announces Earnings Results, Misses Expectations By $0.02 EPS

MFA Financial (NYSE:MFA) issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday. The real estate investment trust reported $0.38 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.40 by ($0.02), Zacks reports. The company 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 9.97% and a net margin of 28.38%.

MFA Financial Trading Down 0.3 %

Shares of MFA stock traded down $0.04 during trading hours on Thursday, reaching $10.29. 87,204 shares of the company’s stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,024,669. MFA Financial has a 1 year low of $9.36 and a 1 year high of $13.45. The stock has a market cap of $1.05 billion, a PE ratio of 6.46 and a beta of 2.11. The stock’s fifty day moving average price is $10.35 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $11.38.

MFA Financial Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, January 31st. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, December 31st were paid a dividend of $0.35 per share. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, December 31st. This represents a $1.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 13.61%. MFA Financial’s payout ratio is 88.05%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research firms have recently weighed in on MFA. Wedbush reiterated an “outperform” rating and set a $15.00 target price on shares of MFA Financial in a research report on Thursday, November 7th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods decreased their target price on MFA Financial from $13.50 to $12.50 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday. Janney Montgomery Scott assumed coverage on MFA Financial in a research report on Thursday, January 2nd. They set a “buy” rating and a $14.00 target price for the company. JMP Securities cut their price target on MFA Financial from $13.50 to $12.50 and set a “market outperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, January 23rd. Finally, StockNews.com lowered MFA Financial from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Thursday, November 7th. One analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating and five have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, MFA Financial 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.