Analyst Stock Ratings: MFA Financial, Inc. (MFA), Darden Restaurants, Inc. (DRI)

MFA Financial, Inc. (NYSE:MFA) tinted gains of +0.62% (+0.05 points) to US$ 8.06. The volume of 1.69 Million shares climbed down over an trading activity of 2.49 Million shares. EPS ratio determined by looking at last 12 month figures is 0.8. Over the same time span, the stock marked US$ 8.09 as its best level and the lowest price reached was US$ 6.4. The corporation has a market cap of US$ 2.98 Billion.

MFA Financial, Inc. (NYSE:MFA)’s earnings per share has been growing at a -3 percent rate over the past 5 year when average revenue increase was noted as 5 percent. The return on equity ratio or ROE stands at 10.2 percent while most common profitability ratio return on investment (ROI) was 2.5 percent. The company’s institutional ownership is monitored at 87.4 percent. The company’s net profit margin has achieved the current level of 53.7 percent and possesses 66.2 percent gross margin.

Daily Analyst Recommendations

A number of key analysts, polled by FactSet, shared their views about the current stock momentum. The forecast of 2 surveyed investment analysts covering the stock advises investors to Buy stake in the company. At present, 1 analysts call it Sell, while 4 think it is Hold. Recently, analysts have updated the overall rating to 3. 0 analysts recommended Overweight these shares while 0 recommended Underweight, according to FactSet data.

Darden Restaurants, Inc. (NYSE:DRI) is worth US$ 9.45 Billion and has recently risen 1.61% to US$ 76.28. The latest exchange of 1.69 Million shares is below its average trading activity of 1.71 Million shares. The day began at US$ 75.33 but the price moved to US$ 75.32 at one point during the trading and finally capitulating to a session high of US$ 76.76. The stock tapped a 52-week high of US$ 79.43 while the mean 12-month price target for the shares is US$ 76.78.

Currently, the stock carries a price to earnings ratio of 22.14, a price to book ratio of 5.07, and a price to sales ratio of 1.35. For the past 5 years, the company’s revenue has grown -1.6%, while the company’s earnings per share has grown -4%. With an institutional ownership near 90.4%, it carries an earnings per share ratio of 3.45.

Inside Look At Analysts Reviews

Latest analyst recommendations could offer little help to investors. The stock is a Buy among 9 brokerage firms polled by Factset Research. At present, 16 analysts recommended Holding these shares while 1 recommended sell, according to FactSet data. 0 analysts call it Underweight, while 1 think it is Overweight. Recently, investment analysts covering the stock have updated the mean rating to 2.6.

Analyst Stock Ratings: MFA Financial, Inc. (MFA), Darden Restaurants, Inc. (DRI)

Biggest Movers in Financial Institutions: Credit Suisse Group AG (CS), ICICI Bank Limited (IBN)

Credit Suisse Group AG (NYSE:CS) shares ended at $ 14.74 with 4.68 mln shares exchanging hands. That puts the market capitalization at $ 30.27 bln. It opened the session with a $ 14.54 price tag, later ranging from $ 14.52 to $ 14.78, the range at which the stock has traded at throughout the day. The stock stands nearly -8.84% off versus the 52-week high and 47.25% away from the 52-week low. The number of shares currently owned by investors are 2.05 bln.

Sell-side analyst recommendations point to a short term price target of $ 14.95 on the shares of Credit Suisse Group AG (CS). The consensus rating is 2, indicating analysts in general look favorably on the company’s future prospects. It has been assigned a low target price of $ 8.88 and a high target price of $ 21.02.

The current price is staying above the SMA lines which signify strength and is generally healthy/positive and may provide the momentum for driving the share price higher. Current price places the company’s stock 10.18% away from its 200-day simple moving average, -2.04%, away from the 50-day average and also -3.99% away from 20-day average.

For this year, Credit Suisse Group AG (NYSE:CS) is performing 3%. Over the past five trading sessions it is -1.34%; -5.69% for the month; 14.89% for the last quarter; 25.66% for the past six-months; and 14.26% for the last 12 months. The last close places the company’s stock about $ 1.43 off its 52 week high of $ 16.17 and $ 4.73 above the 52 week low of $ 10.01.

ICICI Bank Limited (NYSE:IBN) closed up +0.09 points or 1.06% at $ 8.57 with 3.84 mln shares exchanging hands. Current price level places the company’s stock about -2.61% from the 52-week high and 69.9% away from the 52-week low. Sell-side analyst recommendations point to a short term price target of $ 9.17 on the company shares. The consensus rating is 1, indicating analysts in general look favorably on the company’s future prospects. It has been assigned a low target price of $ 6.49 and a high target price of $ 10.73.

ICICI Bank Limited (IBN) opened the session with a $ 8.52 price tag, later ranging from $ 8.52 to $ 8.59, the range at which the stock has traded at throughout the day. The stock stands nearly $ 0.28 off versus the 52-week high of $ 8.8 and $ 3.37 above the 52-week low of $ 5.15. The number of shares currently owned by investors are 2.91 bln. The current price change puts the market capitalization at $ 24.92 bln.

In an overview of the current analyst recommendations, Buy count is 27 and Overweight is 8 while the number of analysts recommending Sell and Underweight are 2 and 1, respectively. Also, the Hold rating count is 10 as of 02/09/17. The analyst recommendations from a month ago are 25 Buy, 8 Overweight, 1 Sell, 11 Hold and 1 Underweight. Investors might also notice that three month ago the Buy recommendations (25) outnumbered Sell recommendations (1). The count of Hold ratings in that period was 11.

Over the past five trading sessions shares of ICICI Bank Limited (NYSE:IBN) are 1.78%; 10.87% for the month; 4.51% for the last quarter; 19.53% for the past six-months; and 49.57% for the last 12 months. The current price is staying above the SMA lines which signify strength and is generally healthy/positive and may provide the momentum for driving the share price higher. Current price places the company’s stock 13.02% away from its 200-day simple moving average, 10.19%, away from the 50-day average and also 6.89% away from 20-day average. The stock is performing 14.42% year to date.

Biggest Movers in Financial Institutions: Credit Suisse Group AG (CS), ICICI Bank Limited (IBN)

Analyst EPS Estimates Coverage: Fidelity National Financial, Inc. (NYSE:FNF)

Fidelity National Financial, Inc. (NYSE:FNF) was up +0.35% ($ 0.12) to $ 34.17 and showed a volume of 1.6 mln shares. It has ranged in price between $ 33.885-$ 34.27 after having started the session at $ 34.08 as compared to the previous trading day’s close of $ 34.05. The GAP was therefore 0.09%. Over the 52-week time span, the stock notched a high price of $ 38.5 and its minimum price was $ 28.24. The firm’s stock has a market capitalization of $ 10.19 bln.

The analysts offering 12 month price targets for Fidelity National Financial, Inc. have a median target of $ 41, with a high estimate of $ 48 and a low estimate of $ 38. The median estimate represents a 19.99% increase from the last price.

According to Zacks brokerage recommendations, Fidelity National Financial, Inc. (NYSE:FNF)’s Buy count is 0 and Strong Buy is 3 while the number of analysts recommending Sell and Strong Sell are 0 and 1, respectively. Also, the Hold rating count is 0, as of 24 Jan 2017. The analyst recommendations from a month ago are 0 Buy, 4 Strong Buy, 0 Sell, 0 Hold and 1. Strong Sell. Investors might also notice that two months ago the Buy recommendations (0) were less than Sell recommendations (0). The count of Hold ratings in that period was 0. Chicago-based equity research firm Zacks Investment Research has assigned this stock ABR (Average Brokerage Recommendation) of 1.5, indicating analysts in general look favorably on the company’s future prospects.

Now, the FactSet Research estimate calls for Q4 2016 earnings of US$ 0.62. A month ago, analyst EPS consensus estimated earnings of US$ 0.62 per share. They were forecasting US$ 0.65 per share three months ago. The Q1 2017 consensus earnings estimates for the company have stabilized at US$ 0.38 per share. A month ago, they told us to expect earnings of US$ 0.38 per share while three months ago their EPS consensus estimate was US$ 0.39.

Fidelity National Financial, Inc. (NYSE:FNF) soared 0.62% year-to-date. The shares have slowed down in recent weeks, with their price down about -6.08% in the past three months. FNF rose 0.92%, plunged -1.19% and sank -9.4% in the week, one month and six months, respectively. The most recent short interest data show 1.83% of the company’s stock are short sold. It would take about 2.53 days to cover all short positions. In terms of volatility, it has a beta coefficient of 0.7 and technical analysis volatility indicator called Average True Range or ATR around 0.48.

Fidelity National Financial, Inc. (FNF) closed -1.87% below its 200-day moving average and is 2.03% above another chart threshold, its 50-day moving average. The stock stands nearly -10.09% off versus the 52-week high and 24.14% away from the 52-week low. The number of shares currently owned by investors are 298.07 mln.

The Wellesleys News

Analyst EPS Estimates Coverage: Fidelity National Financial, Inc. (NYSE:FNF)