MFA Financial, Inc. (NYSE:MFA) Short Interest Down 14.5% in April

MFA Financial, Inc. (NYSE:MFA) was the target of a large decline in short interest during the month of April. As of April 15th, there was short interest totalling 2,190,000 shares, a decline of 14.5% from the March 31st total of 2,560,000 shares. Approximately 2.2% of the company’s stock are sold short. Based on an average daily volume of 1,430,000 shares, the short-interest ratio is currently 1.5 days.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On MFA Financial

Several hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in MFA. Bank of Montreal Can raised its stake in MFA Financial by 10.5% during 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 acquiring an additional 1,134 shares during the last quarter. Independent Advisor Alliance raised its stake in shares of MFA Financial by 0.7% during the fourth quarter. Independent Advisor Alliance now owns 174,183 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $1,775,000 after purchasing an additional 1,224 shares during the last quarter. QRG Capital Management Inc. raised its stake in shares of MFA Financial by 6.2% during the first quarter. QRG Capital Management Inc. now owns 35,771 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $367,000 after purchasing an additional 2,092 shares during the last quarter. Rhumbline Advisers lifted its holdings in shares of MFA Financial by 1.4% during the fourth quarter. Rhumbline Advisers now owns 166,046 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $1,692,000 after purchasing an additional 2,287 shares during the period. Finally, Motiv8 Investments LLC grew its position in MFA Financial by 18.9% in the 1st quarter. Motiv8 Investments LLC now owns 14,433 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $148,000 after buying an additional 2,290 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 65.28% of the company’s stock.

MFA Financial Stock Up 2.3 %

Shares of NYSE MFA opened at $9.98 on Monday. The business has a 50-day moving average price of $9.97 and a 200 day moving average price of $10.53. The stock has a market cap of $1.02 billion, a PE ratio of 12.32 and a beta of 1.69. MFA Financial has a 52-week low of $7.85 and a 52-week high of $13.45.

MFA Financial (NYSE:MFA) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, February 19th. The real estate investment trust reported $0.38 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.40 by ($0.02). MFA Financial had a net margin of 16.47% and a return on equity of 9.61%. The firm had revenue of $50.80 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $58.06 million. Sell-side analysts anticipate that MFA Financial will post 1.5 earnings per share for the current year.

MFA Financial Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, April 30th. Shareholders of record on Monday, March 31st were paid a $0.36 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, March 31st. This is a positive change from MFA Financial’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.35. This represents a $1.44 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 14.43%. MFA Financial’s payout ratio is currently 177.78%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

MFA has been the topic of a number of analyst reports. JMP Securities cut their price target on MFA Financial from $12.50 to $12.00 and set a “market outperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, April 17th. StockNews.com lowered MFA Financial from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, March 28th. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods lowered their price target on MFA Financial from $13.50 to $12.50 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, February 20th. One analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating and five have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $13.60.

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.