MFA Financial (NYSE:MFA) Stock Price Expected to Rise, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods Analyst Says

MFA Financial (NYSE:MFA) had its target price boosted by equities research analysts at Keefe, Bruyette & Woods from $10.00 to $11.00 in a note issued to investors on Friday,Benzinga reports. The brokerage presently has a “market perform” rating on the real estate investment trust’s stock. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods’ price target points to a potential upside of 9.56% from the stock’s previous close.

Several other equities research analysts have also commented on MFA. UBS Group decreased their price objective on shares of MFA Financial from $10.50 to $10.25 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, November 18th. Wall Street Zen raised MFA Financial from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Monday, November 10th. Finally, Weiss Ratings upgraded MFA Financial from a “sell (d+)” rating to a “hold (c-)” rating in a report on Friday, January 16th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and four have issued a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $10.56.

MFA Financial Trading Down 0.4%

NYSE MFA opened at $10.04 on Friday. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $9.75 and a 200 day simple moving average of $9.58. MFA Financial has a 12 month low of $7.85 and a 12 month high of $11.08. The firm has a market capitalization of $1.03 billion, a P/E ratio of 7.78 and a beta of 1.59.

MFA Financial (NYSE:MFA) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, February 18th. The real estate investment trust reported $0.27 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, hitting the consensus estimate of $0.27. The firm had revenue of $88.72 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $60.56 million. MFA Financial had a net margin of 23.73% and a return on equity of 6.67%. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted $0.39 EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that MFA Financial will post 1.5 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On MFA Financial

Institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Balyasny Asset Management L.P. boosted its position in MFA Financial by 53.1% during the second quarter. Balyasny Asset Management L.P. now owns 2,820,393 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $26,681,000 after purchasing an additional 977,820 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC grew its stake in MFA Financial by 2.3% during the second quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 2,489,686 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $23,555,000 after acquiring an additional 54,944 shares in the last quarter. Wolverine Asset Management LLC increased its holdings in MFA Financial by 9.2% during the 4th quarter. Wolverine Asset Management LLC now owns 1,653,062 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $15,390,000 after acquiring an additional 139,559 shares during the period. Invesco Ltd. increased its holdings in MFA Financial by 9.2% during the 2nd quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 1,647,612 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $15,586,000 after acquiring an additional 139,156 shares during the period. Finally, Citigroup Inc. lifted its stake in MFA Financial by 440.1% in the 3rd quarter. Citigroup Inc. now owns 1,345,561 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $12,366,000 after purchasing an additional 1,096,443 shares in the last quarter. 65.28% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

MFA Financial Company Profile

MFA Financial, Inc, headquartered in New York City, is a real estate investment trust that specializes in investing in residential mortgage loans and mortgage-related securities. The company’s primary objective is to generate attractive risk-adjusted returns through net interest income and capital appreciation. As a mortgage REIT, MFA Financial focuses on constructing a diversified portfolio of agency and non-agency residential mortgage assets, leveraging its expertise in acquiring, financing and servicing mortgage products.

MFA Financial’s investment portfolio encompasses a wide range of mortgage instruments, including adjustable-rate and fixed-rate mortgage loans, interest-only securities, and agency mortgage-backed securities guaranteed by government-sponsored entities.