MFA Financial (NYSE:MFA) Reaches New 52-Week Low – Time to Sell?

MFA Financial, Inc. (NYSE:MFA) shares hit a new 52-week low during trading on Monday. The company traded as low as $6.73 and last traded at $6.7050, with a volume of 574,339 shares trading hands. The stock had previously closed at $6.88.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of brokerages have weighed in on MFA. William Blair set a $11.00 price objective on MFA Financial in a research note on Tuesday, August 4th. BTIG Research reaffirmed a “buy” rating and issued a $9.50 target price (down from $10.50) on shares of MFA Financial in a research report on Tuesday, October 6th. Royal Bank Of Canada reiterated a “sector perform” rating and set a $10.00 target price on shares of MFA Financial in a research note on Thursday, August 20th. Citizens Jmp decreased their price target on shares of MFA Financial from $11.50 to $11.00 and set a “market outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, August 4th. Finally, Citigroup reissued a “market outperform” rating on shares of MFA Financial in a research report on Tuesday, August 4th. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, two have issued a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $10.29.

MFA Financial Stock Performance

The firm has a market cap of $677.81 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of 6.71 and a beta of 1.45. The business’s 50 day moving average price is $8.45 and its 200-day moving average price is $9.18.

MFA Financial Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, October 30th. Shareholders of record on Monday, October 5th will be paid a dividend of $0.36 per share. The ex-dividend date is Monday, October 5th. This represents a $1.44 annualized dividend and a yield of 21.5%. MFA Financial’s dividend payout ratio is presently 144.00%.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Large investors have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Renaissance Technologies LLC grew its position in MFA Financial by 245.2% in the 1st quarter. Renaissance Technologies LLC now owns 777,025 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $7,444,000 after purchasing an additional 551,927 shares during the last quarter. Connor Clark & Lunn Investment Management Ltd. acquired a new stake in shares of MFA Financial in the second quarter valued at approximately $3,589,000. BlackRock Inc. raised its holdings in shares of MFA Financial by 3.0% during the second quarter. BlackRock Inc. now owns 9,459,988 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $91,667,000 after buying an additional 271,707 shares during the last quarter. Ieq Capital LLC bought a new stake in shares of MFA Financial during the second quarter valued at approximately $1,676,000. Finally, Corient Private Wealth LP acquired a new position in shares of MFA Financial during the second quarter worth approximately $1,539,000. Institutional investors own 65.28% of the company’s stock.

MFA Financial Company Profile

MFA Financial, Inc is a real estate investment trust that invests primarily in residential mortgage assets. The company focuses on generating income from a portfolio of residential mortgage loans, mortgage-backed securities and other mortgage-related investments.

Its investments may include agency and non-agency mortgage-backed securities, residential whole loans, credit-risk transfer securities and mortgage servicing rights. MFA also acquires and manages residential mortgage assets through subsidiaries and strategic investment relationships, with activities centered on the U.S.