UPDATE: Jefferies Lowers PT on MFA Financial To $8.50

Jefferies & Company has published a research report on MFA Financial MFA and has lowered the company's price target from $9 to $8.50. In the report, Jefferies writes, "MFA reported $0.26 in core earnings, which was in-line with our estimate and $0.01 above the Street. Weakness in non-agency prices caused a 5% decline in Q/Q book value while operating metrics were in-line and capital deployment was better than expected." Jefferies maintains its Buy rating on MFA Financial, which closed yesterday at $7.65.