MFA Financial (NYSE:MFA) Announces Earnings Results, Misses Estimates By $0.02 EPS

MFA Financial (NYSE:MFA) released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday. The real estate investment trust reported $0.38 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.40 by ($0.02), Zacks reports. MFA Financial had a net margin of 28.38% and a return on equity of 9.97%.

MFA Financial Stock Down 0.4 %

Shares of MFA Financial stock traded down $0.05 on Wednesday, reaching $10.25. The stock had a trading volume of 241,719 shares, compared to its average volume of 980,103. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $10.37 and a 200 day moving average price of $11.40. MFA Financial has a 1 year low of $9.36 and a 1 year high of $13.45. The stock has a market capitalization of $1.05 billion, a P/E ratio of 6.49 and a beta of 2.11.

MFA Financial Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, January 31st. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, December 31st were given a dividend of $0.35 per share. This represents a $1.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 13.65%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, December 31st. MFA Financial’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 88.05%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

MFA has been the subject of several recent research reports. StockNews.com downgraded shares of MFA Financial from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Thursday, November 7th. Janney Montgomery Scott began coverage on shares of MFA Financial in a research note on Thursday, January 2nd. They issued a “buy” rating and a $14.00 target price on the stock. Wedbush restated an “outperform” rating and set a $15.00 price objective on shares of MFA Financial in a research report on Thursday, November 7th. Finally, JMP Securities reduced their price objective on shares of MFA Financial from $13.50 to $12.50 and set a “market outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, January 23rd. One analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating and five have given a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, MFA Financial has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $13.80.

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.