Keefe, Bruyette & Woods Lowers MFA Financial (NYSE:MFA) Price Target to $12.50

MFA Financial (NYSE:MFA) had its price target reduced by equities research analysts at Keefe, Bruyette & Woods from $13.50 to $12.50 in a research note issued on Thursday,Benzinga reports. The brokerage presently has an “outperform” rating on the real estate investment trust’s stock. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods’ price target would suggest a potential upside of 20.95% from the stock’s previous close.

Other research analysts have also issued reports about the stock. Wedbush restated an “outperform” rating and issued a $15.00 price objective on shares of MFA Financial in a research note on Thursday, November 7th. Janney Montgomery Scott assumed coverage on MFA Financial in a research report on Thursday, January 2nd. They set a “buy” rating and a $14.00 price objective for the company. JMP Securities dropped their target price on MFA Financial from $13.50 to $12.50 and set a “market outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, January 23rd. Finally, StockNews.com downgraded MFA Financial from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Thursday, November 7th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating and five have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $13.70.

MFA Financial Price Performance

Shares of MFA opened at $10.34 on Thursday. MFA Financial has a 1-year low of $9.36 and a 1-year high of $13.45. The stock has a market cap of $1.06 billion, a PE ratio of 6.50 and a beta of 2.11. The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $10.35 and a 200 day moving average price of $11.38.

MFA Financial (NYSE:MFA) last posted its quarterly earnings data 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). MFA Financial had a net margin of 28.38% and a return on equity of 9.97%. As a group, equities analysts expect that MFA Financial will post 1.43 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several large investors have recently bought and sold shares of the business. Barclays PLC grew 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 purchasing an additional 337,142 shares during the period. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC grew its position in MFA Financial by 74.9% during the third quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC now owns 157,481 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $2,003,000 after buying an additional 67,449 shares during the period. Vaughan Nelson Investment Management L.P. increased its holdings in MFA Financial by 35.4% in the third quarter. Vaughan Nelson Investment Management L.P. now owns 4,583,087 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $58,297,000 after buying an additional 1,197,220 shares in the last quarter. Kingswood Wealth Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in shares of MFA Financial during the 4th quarter worth approximately $428,000. Finally, Geode Capital Management LLC grew its holdings in shares of MFA Financial by 0.9% in the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 2,407,455 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $30,629,000 after acquiring an additional 21,331 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 65.28% of the company’s stock.

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.