MFA Financial (NYSE:MFA) Shares Gap Down to $10.95

MFA Financial, Inc. (NYSE:MFA) shares gapped down before the market opened on Monday . The stock had previously closed at $10.95, but opened at $10.59. MFA Financial shares last traded at $10.77, with a volume of 219,008 shares trading hands.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Separately, JMP Securities restated a “market outperform” rating and set a $12.50 price target on shares of MFA Financial in a report on Thursday, April 18th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and four have issued a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $12.00.

MFA Financial Stock Performance

The stock has a market cap of $1.11 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 27.38 and a beta of 2.10. The firm’s 50-day simple moving average is $11.01 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $10.84.

MFA Financial (NYSE:MFA) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 22nd. The real estate investment trust reported $0.46 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.34 by $0.12. The business had revenue of $169.88 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $43.75 million. MFA Financial had a return on equity of 9.44% and a net margin of 13.24%. During the same period last year, the company earned $0.46 EPS. Equities research analysts expect that MFA Financial, Inc. will post 1.47 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

MFA Financial Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, April 30th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, March 28th were paid a $0.35 dividend. This represents a $1.40 annualized dividend and a yield of 12.92%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, March 27th. MFA Financial’s payout ratio is 350.00%.

Institutional Trading of MFA Financial

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Creekmur Asset Management LLC acquired a new position in MFA Financial during the fourth quarter worth $25,000. Future Financial Wealth Managment LLC bought a new position in MFA Financial during the first quarter worth $34,000. Carmichael Hill & Associates Inc. grew its position in shares of MFA Financial by 93.5% in the third quarter. Carmichael Hill & Associates Inc. now owns 4,636 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $45,000 after purchasing an additional 2,240 shares during the last quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC bought a new stake in MFA Financial in the 3rd quarter valued at $51,000. Finally, Summit Wealth Group LLC bought a new position in shares of MFA Financial during the third quarter worth approximately $96,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 65.28% of the company’s stock.

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.