MFA Financial (NYSE:MFA) Reaches New 12-Month Low – Should You Sell?

MFA Financial, Inc. (NYSE:MFA) shares hit a new 52-week low during mid-day trading on Monday. The stock traded as low as $6.49 and last traded at $6.4450, with a volume of 177,790 shares changing hands. The stock had previously closed at $6.59.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research firms have recently commented on MFA. William Blair set a $11.00 price target on MFA Financial in a report on Tuesday, August 4th. Citigroup reaffirmed a “market outperform” rating on shares of MFA Financial in a research note on Thursday. BTIG Research reiterated a “buy” rating and issued a $9.50 target price (down from $10.50) on shares of MFA Financial in a research report on Tuesday, October 6th. Royal Bank Of Canada reiterated a “sector perform” rating and issued a $10.00 target price on shares of MFA Financial in a research report on Thursday, August 20th. Finally, Weiss Ratings downgraded MFA Financial from a “sell (d+)” rating to a “sell (d)” rating in a research note on Friday, October 9th. Four analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, two have issued a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, MFA Financial has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $9.79.

MFA Financial Stock Performance

The company has a market cap of $653.55 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of 6.46 and a beta of 1.45. The company has a fifty day moving average of $8.30 and a two-hundred day moving average of $9.12.

MFA Financial Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, October 30th. Stockholders of record on Monday, October 5th will be paid a dividend of $0.36 per share. This represents a $1.44 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 22.3%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, October 5th. MFA Financial’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 144.00%.

Institutional Trading of MFA Financial

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the company. QRG Capital Management Inc. raised its holdings in MFA Financial by 76.4% in the 2nd quarter. QRG Capital Management Inc. now owns 79,716 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $772,000 after buying an additional 34,531 shares during the last quarter. State Street Corp boosted its position in MFA Financial by 6.0% during the 2nd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 2,576,990 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $25,869,000 after buying an additional 145,992 shares during the period. WINTON GROUP Ltd acquired a new stake in MFA Financial during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $226,000. Integrated Wealth Concepts LLC acquired a new stake in MFA Financial during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $26,000. Finally, Corient Private Wealth LP grew its holdings in MFA Financial by 60.1% during the 2nd quarter. Corient Private Wealth LP now owns 172,669 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $1,679,000 after acquiring an additional 64,845 shares during the last quarter. 65.28% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

About MFA Financial

MFA Financial, Inc is a real estate investment trust that invests primarily in residential mortgage assets. The company focuses on generating income from a portfolio of residential mortgage loans, mortgage-backed securities and other mortgage-related investments.

Its investments may include agency and non-agency mortgage-backed securities, residential whole loans, credit-risk transfer securities and mortgage servicing rights. MFA also acquires and manages residential mortgage assets through subsidiaries and strategic investment relationships, with activities centered on the U.S.