MFA Financial (NYSE:MFA) Upgraded at Weiss Ratings

Weiss Ratings upgraded shares of MFA Financial (NYSE:MFA) from a sell (d+) rating to a hold (c-) rating in a research note issued to investors on Saturday morning,Weiss Ratings reports.

Several other research firms have also recently commented on MFA. Jones Trading restated a “hold” rating on shares of MFA Financial in a research note on Monday, August 11th. Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of MFA Financial from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Saturday. JMP Securities reduced their target price on shares of MFA Financial from $12.00 to $11.00 and set a “market outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, July 17th. UBS Group restated a “buy” rating on shares of MFA Financial in a research note on Wednesday, September 3rd. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods cut shares of MFA Financial from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating and reduced their price objective for the company from $12.00 to $10.00 in a research note on Thursday, July 10th. Four analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and four have given a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $11.75.

MFA Financial Stock Performance

MFA stock opened at $9.13 on Friday. MFA Financial has a one year low of $7.85 and a one year high of $12.75. The stock has a market capitalization of $936.86 million, a PE ratio of 10.49 and a beta of 1.70. The company has a fifty day moving average of $9.64 and a 200-day moving average of $9.50.

MFA Financial (NYSE:MFA) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, August 6th. The real estate investment trust reported $0.24 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.29 by ($0.05). MFA Financial had a return on equity of 8.61% and a net margin of 17.62%.The firm had revenue of $61.28 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $59.50 million. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $0.32 EPS. Equities analysts forecast that MFA Financial will post 1.5 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

MFA Financial Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, October 31st. Investors of record on Tuesday, September 30th will be paid a $0.36 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, September 30th. This represents a $1.44 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 15.8%. MFA Financial’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 165.52%.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On MFA Financial

Hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Golden State Wealth Management LLC purchased a new position in MFA Financial during the 1st quarter valued at about $25,000. Trust Co. of Vermont purchased a new position in MFA Financial during the 2nd quarter valued at about $28,000. Headlands Technologies LLC increased its holdings in MFA Financial by 62.3% during the 2nd quarter. Headlands Technologies LLC now owns 2,992 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $28,000 after acquiring an additional 1,149 shares in the last quarter. IFP Advisors Inc increased its holdings in MFA Financial by 40.7% during the 2nd quarter. IFP Advisors Inc now owns 4,321 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $41,000 after acquiring an additional 1,250 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Huntington National Bank increased its holdings in MFA Financial by 58.6% during the 2nd quarter. Huntington National Bank now owns 5,790 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $55,000 after acquiring an additional 2,139 shares in the last quarter. 65.28% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.