Voya Investment Management LLC Buys 9,448 Shares of MFA Financial, Inc. $MFA

Voya Investment Management LLC boosted its position in shares of MFA Financial, Inc. (NYSE:MFA) by 3.7% in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 262,851 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock after purchasing an additional 9,448 shares during the quarter. Voya Investment Management LLC owned about 0.26% of MFA Financial worth $2,697,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the company. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its stake in shares of MFA Financial by 0.7% during the 1st quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 10,182,250 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $104,470,000 after purchasing an additional 70,847 shares in the last quarter. Vaughan Nelson Investment Management L.P. raised its position in shares of MFA Financial by 18.6% during the first quarter. Vaughan Nelson Investment Management L.P. now owns 6,030,535 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $61,874,000 after acquiring an additional 944,608 shares during the last quarter. Invesco Ltd. increased its holdings in MFA Financial by 23.3% in the first quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 1,508,456 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $15,477,000 after purchasing an additional 285,344 shares in the last quarter. Natixis Advisors LLC increased its holdings in MFA Financial by 15.7% in the first quarter. Natixis Advisors LLC now owns 1,085,679 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $11,139,000 after purchasing an additional 147,498 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Allianz Asset Management GmbH increased its holdings in shares of MFA Financial by 17.8% during the first quarter. Allianz Asset Management GmbH now owns 830,830 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $8,524,000 after acquiring an additional 125,328 shares in the last quarter. 65.28% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

MFA Financial Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:MFA opened at $9.85 on Friday. The business’s 50-day moving average is $9.70 and its 200 day moving average is $9.70. MFA Financial, Inc. has a 1 year low of $7.85 and a 1 year high of $13.20. The firm has a market capitalization of $1.01 billion, a P/E ratio of 11.32 and a beta of 1.68.

MFA Financial (NYSE:MFA) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, August 6th. The real estate investment trust reported $0.24 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.29 by ($0.05). The company had revenue of $61.28 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $59.50 million. MFA Financial had a return on equity of 8.61% and a net margin of 17.62%.During the same period last year, the business earned $0.32 earnings per share. On average, analysts expect that MFA Financial, Inc. will post 1.5 EPS for the current year.

MFA Financial Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, October 31st. Investors of record on Tuesday, September 30th will be paid a dividend of $0.36 per share. This represents a $1.44 annualized dividend and a yield of 14.6%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, September 30th. MFA Financial’s payout ratio is presently 165.52%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research analysts have weighed in on the company. Royal Bank Of Canada set a $10.00 price objective on MFA Financial and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, May 28th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods cut MFA Financial from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating and cut their price objective for the stock from $12.00 to $10.00 in a report on Thursday, July 10th. JMP Securities dropped their target price on MFA Financial from $12.00 to $11.00 and set a “market outperform” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, July 17th. Jones Trading reissued a “hold” rating on shares of MFA Financial in a research report on Monday, August 11th. Finally, UBS Group reaffirmed a “buy” rating on shares of MFA Financial in a research report on Wednesday, September 3rd. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and three have issued a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $11.75.

About MFA Financial

MFA Financial, Inc, together with its subsidiaries, operates as a real estate investment trust in the United States. It invests in residential mortgage securities, including non-agency mortgage-backed securities, agency MBS, and credit risk transfer securities; residential whole loans, including purchased performing loans, purchased credit deteriorated, and non-performing loans; and mortgage servicing rights related assets.