MFA Financial (NYSE:MFA) Shares Gap Down to $10.87

MFA Financial, Inc. (NYSE:MFA) gapped down prior to trading on Friday . The stock had previously closed at $10.87, but opened at $10.61. MFA Financial shares last traded at $10.69, with a volume of 112,721 shares changing hands.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Separately, JMP Securities reissued a “market outperform” rating and issued a $12.50 target price on shares of MFA Financial in a research report on Friday, May 31st. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and four have given a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $12.00.

MFA Financial Price Performance

The business’s 50 day moving average is $10.75 and its 200 day moving average is $11.05. The stock has a market cap of $1.09 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -135.92 and a beta of 2.12.

MFA Financial Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, July 31st. Investors of record on Friday, June 28th will be paid a dividend of $0.35 per share. The ex-dividend date is Friday, June 28th. This represents a $1.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 13.16%. MFA Financial’s payout ratio is currently -1,749.78%.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On MFA Financial

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. HighTower Advisors LLC raised its holdings in shares of MFA Financial by 8.0% in the third quarter. HighTower Advisors LLC now owns 37,379 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $358,000 after buying an additional 2,758 shares during the last quarter. UBS Group AG raised its holdings in shares of MFA Financial by 49.9% in the third quarter. UBS Group AG now owns 290,656 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $2,793,000 after buying an additional 96,711 shares during the last quarter. Deutsche Bank AG raised its holdings in shares of MFA Financial by 12.5% in the third quarter. Deutsche Bank AG now owns 54,354 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $522,000 after buying an additional 6,047 shares during the last quarter. Invesco Ltd. raised its holdings in MFA Financial by 18.1% during the third quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 1,329,731 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $12,779,000 after purchasing an additional 203,681 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Natixis Advisors L.P. raised its holdings in MFA Financial by 14.3% during the third quarter. Natixis Advisors L.P. now owns 434,878 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $4,179,000 after purchasing an additional 54,570 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, 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.