Annaly Capital Management Inc (NYSE:NLY) Given Average Recommendation of “Moderate Buy” by Brokerages

Shares of Annaly Capital Management Inc (NYSE:NLY) have been given an average rating of “Moderate Buy” by the twelve brokerages that are covering the stock, Marketbeat Ratings reports. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold recommendation, seven have assigned a buy recommendation and one has issued a strong buy recommendation on the company. The average twelve-month price objective among brokerages that have issued a report on the stock in the last year is $24.1111.

A number of brokerages recently weighed in on NLY. JonesTrading raised their target price on shares of Annaly Capital Management from $22.00 to $25.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, January 29th. Barclays set a $24.00 price target on Annaly Capital Management and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Friday, January 30th. Royal Bank Of Canada raised their price objective on Annaly Capital Management from $23.00 to $25.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 5th. Weiss Ratings restated a “hold (c)” rating on shares of Annaly Capital Management in a report on Wednesday, January 21st. Finally, BTIG Research raised Annaly Capital Management from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $25.00 target price on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, January 6th.

Insider Activity

In other Annaly Capital Management news, CFO Serena Wolfe sold 16,536 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, February 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $23.14, for a total transaction of $382,643.04. Following the sale, the chief financial officer owned 173,081 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,005,094.34. The trade was a 8.72% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, COO Steven Francis Campbell sold 26,491 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, February 25th. The shares were sold at an average price of $22.83, for a total transaction of $604,789.53. Following the sale, the chief operating officer directly owned 178,000 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $4,063,740. This represents a 12.95% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. In the last 90 days, insiders have sold 71,252 shares of company stock worth $1,639,995. Corporate insiders own 0.22% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Annaly Capital Management

Several hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Norges Bank acquired a new position in shares of Annaly Capital Management in the fourth quarter worth $162,477,000. UBS AM A Distinct Business Unit of UBS Asset Management Americas LLC boosted its position in Annaly Capital Management by 394.1% during the third quarter. UBS AM A Distinct Business Unit of UBS Asset Management Americas LLC now owns 5,374,696 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $108,623,000 after purchasing an additional 4,286,893 shares during the last quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its position in Annaly Capital Management by 5.0% during the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 63,613,639 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $1,422,401,000 after purchasing an additional 3,024,564 shares during the last quarter. PFA Pension Forsikringsaktieselskab purchased a new position in Annaly Capital Management in the fourth quarter valued at about $63,699,000. Finally, Goldman Sachs Group Inc. grew its stake in Annaly Capital Management by 833.6% in the first quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. now owns 2,920,617 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $59,318,000 after purchasing an additional 2,607,784 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 51.56% of the company’s stock.

Annaly Capital Management Trading Down 0.8%

Shares of NYSE NLY opened at $21.07 on Wednesday. Annaly Capital Management has a twelve month low of $16.59 and a twelve month high of $24.52. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $22.92 and a two-hundred day moving average of $22.24. The company has a market capitalization of $15.13 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 7.58, a PEG ratio of 6.53 and a beta of 1.24.

Annaly Capital Management (NYSE:NLY) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, January 28th. The real estate investment trust reported $0.74 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.72 by $0.02. Annaly Capital Management had a net margin of 34.02% and a return on equity of 15.80%. The company had revenue of $1.06 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $567.67 million. As a group, research analysts predict that Annaly Capital Management will post 2.81 earnings per share for the current year.

Annaly Capital Management Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, April 30th. Investors of record on Tuesday, March 31st will be paid a $0.70 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, March 31st. This represents a $2.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 13.3%. Annaly Capital Management’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 100.72%.

About Annaly Capital Management

Annaly Capital Management, Inc is a publicly traded real estate investment trust (REIT) that specializes in generating income through investment in mortgage-related assets. The company’s core business activities include the acquisition, financing, and management of a diversified portfolio of agency and non-agency residential mortgage-backed securities (RMBS), commercial mortgage-backed securities (CMBS), and other real estate debt instruments. Annaly seeks to profit from the spread between the interest earned on its mortgage investments and its cost of funds, as well as from capital gains realized through active portfolio management.

Founded in 1997 and headquartered in New York City, Annaly has grown to become one of the largest mortgage REITs in the United States.