MFA Financial, Inc. (NYSE:MFA) Short Interest Down 17.5% in February

MFA Financial, Inc. (NYSE:MFA) saw a large decrease in short interest in the month of February. As of February 27th, there was short interest totaling 2,191,825 shares, a decrease of 17.5% from the February 12th total of 2,656,748 shares. Approximately 2.2% of the company’s stock are short sold. Based on an average daily volume of 1,374,427 shares, the short-interest ratio is currently 1.6 days. Based on an average daily volume of 1,374,427 shares, the short-interest ratio is currently 1.6 days. Approximately 2.2% of the company’s stock are short sold.

Institutional Trading of MFA Financial

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Headlands Technologies LLC grew its stake in MFA Financial by 62.3% in the second quarter. Headlands Technologies LLC now owns 2,992 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $28,000 after purchasing an additional 1,149 shares in the last quarter. ProShare Advisors LLC grew its position in MFA Financial by 6.9% during the fourth quarter. ProShare Advisors LLC now owns 18,829 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $175,000 after buying an additional 1,211 shares in the last quarter. Police & Firemen s Retirement System of New Jersey grew its stake in MFA Financial by 6.7% during the second quarter. Police & Firemen s Retirement System of New Jersey now owns 22,150 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $210,000 after buying an additional 1,392 shares in the last quarter. Tower Research Capital LLC TRC grew its stake in shares of MFA Financial by 23.9% during the second quarter. Tower Research Capital LLC TRC now owns 7,340 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $69,000 after buying an additional 1,417 shares during the last quarter. Finally, MAI Capital Management boosted its stake in shares of MFA Financial by 13.3% during the third quarter. MAI Capital Management now owns 12,126 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $111,000 after purchasing an additional 1,420 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 65.28% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

MFA has been the topic of a number of research analyst reports. Weiss Ratings raised shares of MFA Financial from a “sell (d+)” rating to a “hold (c-)” rating in a research report on Friday, January 16th. Royal Bank Of Canada upped their price target on shares of MFA Financial from $10.00 to $11.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a report on Thursday, March 5th. UBS Group lowered their price target on MFA Financial from $10.50 to $10.25 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, November 18th. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods lifted their price objective on MFA Financial from $10.00 to $11.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a research note on Friday, February 20th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and four have issued a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, MFA Financial presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $10.81.

MFA Financial Trading Up 0.0%

NYSE MFA opened at $10.07 on Wednesday. The firm has a market cap of $1.03 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 7.80 and a beta of 1.57. The company has a 50 day moving average of $9.92 and a 200-day moving average of $9.63. MFA Financial has a 1-year low of $7.85 and a 1-year high of $11.08.

MFA Financial (NYSE:MFA) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, February 18th. The real estate investment trust reported $0.27 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, meeting the consensus estimate of $0.27. MFA Financial had a return on equity of 6.67% and a net margin of 23.73%.The business had revenue of $88.72 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $60.56 million. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $0.39 EPS. On average, analysts forecast that MFA Financial will post 1.5 earnings per share for the current year.

MFA Financial Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, April 30th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, March 31st will be issued a $0.36 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, March 31st. This represents a $1.44 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 14.3%. MFA Financial’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 111.63%.

About MFA Financial

MFA Financial, Inc, headquartered in New York City, is a real estate investment trust that specializes in investing in residential mortgage loans and mortgage-related securities. The company’s primary objective is to generate attractive risk-adjusted returns through net interest income and capital appreciation. As a mortgage REIT, MFA Financial focuses on constructing a diversified portfolio of agency and non-agency residential mortgage assets, leveraging its expertise in acquiring, financing and servicing mortgage products.

MFA Financial’s investment portfolio encompasses a wide range of mortgage instruments, including adjustable-rate and fixed-rate mortgage loans, interest-only securities, and agency mortgage-backed securities guaranteed by government-sponsored entities.