Victory Capital Management Inc. Grows Position in MFA Financial, Inc. (NYSE:MFA)

Victory Capital Management Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of MFA Financial, Inc. (NYSE:MFA) by 17.9% in the 2nd quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The firm owned 98,187 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock after acquiring an additional 14,898 shares during the period. Victory Capital Management Inc.’s holdings in MFA Financial were worth $1,045,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of MFA. Creekmur Asset Management LLC purchased a new position in MFA Financial in the fourth quarter worth $25,000. Mitsubishi UFJ Trust & Banking Corp lifted its stake in MFA Financial by 82.7% during the first quarter. Mitsubishi UFJ Trust & Banking Corp now owns 2,658 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $30,000 after purchasing an additional 1,203 shares during the last quarter. Future Financial Wealth Managment LLC purchased a new position in shares of MFA Financial in the 1st quarter worth about $34,000. Quent Capital LLC increased its position in shares of MFA Financial by 17.7% during the 1st quarter. Quent Capital LLC now owns 10,030 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $114,000 after purchasing an additional 1,508 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Counterpoint Mutual Funds LLC bought a new position in shares of MFA Financial during the 1st quarter valued at about $128,000. 65.28% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of analysts recently weighed in on MFA shares. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods boosted their target price on MFA Financial from $12.00 to $13.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, August 9th. StockNews.com upgraded shares of MFA Financial from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, August 9th. Raymond James increased their target price on shares of MFA Financial from $13.00 to $14.50 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday. JMP Securities lifted their target price on shares of MFA Financial from $12.50 to $13.50 and gave the stock a “market outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, September 6th. Finally, Wedbush upped their price target on shares of MFA Financial from $13.00 to $14.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, August 9th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating and five have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $13.40.

MFA Financial Stock Performance

NYSE:MFA opened at $13.02 on Friday. MFA Financial, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $8.41 and a fifty-two week high of $13.45. The firm has a market cap of $1.33 billion, a PE ratio of -162.67 and a beta of 2.16. The business has a 50 day moving average price of $11.88 and a 200-day moving average price of $11.22.

MFA Financial Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, October 31st. Shareholders of record on Friday, September 27th will be given a dividend of $0.35 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, September 27th. This represents a $1.40 annualized dividend and a yield of 10.76%. MFA Financial’s payout ratio is currently -1,749.78%.

MFA Financial Profile

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.