JMP Securities Issues Pessimistic Forecast for MFA Financial (NYSE:MFA) Stock Price

MFA Financial (NYSE:MFA) had its price target lowered by JMP Securities from $12.50 to $12.00 in a research note issued on Thursday,Benzinga reports. The brokerage presently has a “market outperform” rating on the real estate investment trust’s stock. JMP Securities’ price target suggests a potential upside of 33.56% from the stock’s previous close.

A number of other equities research analysts have also recently commented on the stock. Janney Montgomery Scott began coverage on shares of MFA Financial in a report on Thursday, January 2nd. They issued a “buy” rating and a $14.00 target price for the company. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods reduced their price objective on MFA Financial from $13.50 to $12.50 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, February 20th. Finally, StockNews.com downgraded MFA Financial from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, March 28th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating and five have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $13.60.

MFA Financial Stock Up 4.1 %

MFA stock opened at $8.99 on Thursday. The business has a 50 day moving average price of $10.15 and a 200 day moving average price of $10.75. The stock has a market cap of $921.18 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of 11.09 and a beta of 1.61. MFA Financial has a fifty-two week low of $7.85 and a fifty-two week high of $13.45.

MFA Financial (NYSE:MFA) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, February 19th. The real estate investment trust reported $0.38 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.40 by ($0.02). The firm had revenue of $50.80 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $58.06 million. MFA Financial had a net margin of 16.47% and a return on equity of 9.61%. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that MFA Financial will post 1.5 EPS for the current year.

Institutional Trading of MFA Financial

Several hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the business. Balyasny Asset Management L.P. purchased a new stake in shares of MFA Financial during the 4th quarter worth $18,325,000. Vaughan Nelson Investment Management L.P. boosted its holdings in MFA Financial by 18.6% during the first quarter. Vaughan Nelson Investment Management L.P. now owns 6,030,535 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $61,874,000 after buying an additional 944,608 shares in the last quarter. First Trust Advisors LP increased its holdings in MFA Financial by 531.6% in the fourth quarter. First Trust Advisors LP now owns 794,394 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $8,095,000 after buying an additional 668,618 shares in the last quarter. Norges Bank acquired a new stake in shares of MFA Financial during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $3,564,000. Finally, Barclays PLC boosted its stake in shares of MFA Financial by 902.9% during the 3rd quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 374,481 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $4,764,000 after acquiring an additional 337,142 shares in the last quarter. 65.28% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

MFA Financial Company Profile

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.