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MFA Financial (MFA) Gains But Lags Market: What You Should Know

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In the latest trading session, MFA Financial (MFA - Free Report) closed at $1.63, marking a +1.24% move from the previous day. This move lagged the S&P 500's daily gain of 1.69%. Meanwhile, the Dow gained 1.91%, and the Nasdaq, a tech-heavy index, added 1.58%.

Investors will be hoping for strength from MFA as it approaches its next earnings release. Our most recent consensus estimate is calling for quarterly revenue of $72.40 million, up 16.91% from the year-ago period.

Looking at the full year, our Zacks Consensus Estimates suggest analysts are expecting earnings of $0.76 per share and revenue of $315.80 million. These totals would mark changes of -1.3% and +26.64%, respectively, from last year.

It is also important to note the recent changes to analyst estimates for MFA. Recent revisions tend to reflect the latest near-term business trends. With this in mind, we can consider positive estimate revisions a sign of optimism about the company's business outlook.

Based on our research, we believe these estimate revisions are directly related to near-team stock moves. To benefit from this, we have developed the Zacks Rank, a proprietary model which takes these estimate changes into account and provides an actionable rating system.

The Zacks Rank system ranges from #1 (Strong Buy) to #5 (Strong Sell). It has a remarkable, outside-audited track record of success, with #1 stocks delivering an average annual return of +25% since 1988. The Zacks Consensus EPS estimate remained stagnant within the past month. MFA is currently a Zacks Rank #3 (Hold).

Looking at its valuation, MFA is holding a Forward P/E ratio of 2.12. For comparison, its industry has an average Forward P/E of 7.57, which means MFA is trading at a discount to the group.

The REIT and Equity Trust industry is part of the Finance sector. This industry currently has a Zacks Industry Rank of 191, which puts it in the bottom 25% of all 250+ industries.

The Zacks Industry Rank includes is listed in order from best to worst in terms of the average Zacks Rank of the individual companies within each of these sectors. Our research shows that the top 50% rated industries outperform the bottom half by a factor of 2 to 1.

Be sure to follow all of these stock-moving metrics, and many more, on Zacks.com.


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