MFA Financial (NYSE:MFA) Hits New 12-Month Low – Time to Sell?

MFA Financial, Inc. (NYSE:MFA)’s share price reached a new 52-week low during trading on Tuesday . The company traded as low as $9.36 and last traded at $9.55, with a volume of 1646784 shares. The stock had previously closed at $9.55.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several brokerages recently weighed in on MFA. Janney Montgomery Scott assumed coverage on MFA Financial in a research note on Thursday, January 2nd. They set a “buy” rating and a $14.00 target price for the company. Wedbush reissued an “outperform” rating and issued a $15.00 price objective on shares of MFA Financial in a research report on Thursday, November 7th. StockNews.com lowered shares of MFA Financial from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday, November 7th. Finally, Raymond James increased their price target on shares of MFA Financial from $13.00 to $14.50 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, September 19th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating and five have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $14.00.

MFA Financial Price Performance

The firm has a market capitalization of $974.89 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of 6.01 and a beta of 2.11. The business has a 50 day moving average of $10.77 and a 200 day moving average of $11.51.

MFA Financial Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, January 31st. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, December 31st will be paid a $0.35 dividend. This represents a $1.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 14.66%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, December 31st. MFA Financial’s dividend payout ratio is 88.05%.

Institutional Trading of MFA Financial

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Wellington Management Group LLP lifted its stake in MFA Financial by 1.0% during the third quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 11,005,138 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $139,985,000 after purchasing an additional 111,331 shares during the period. Vaughan Nelson Investment Management L.P. raised its holdings in shares of MFA Financial by 35.4% in the 3rd quarter. Vaughan Nelson Investment Management L.P. now owns 4,583,087 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $58,297,000 after buying an additional 1,197,220 shares in the last quarter. State Street Corp lifted its position in shares of MFA Financial by 6.2% during the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 2,579,818 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $33,700,000 after buying an additional 151,321 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its stake in MFA Financial by 0.9% in the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 2,407,455 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $30,629,000 after buying an additional 21,331 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. grew its position in MFA Financial by 0.7% in the third quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 1,835,409 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $23,346,000 after acquiring an additional 12,071 shares during the period. 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.