Annaly Capital Management, Inc. (NYSE:NLY) Receives Average Recommendation of “Moderate Buy” from Brokerages

Annaly Capital Management, Inc. (NYSE:NLY) has been given an average rating of “Moderate Buy” by the ten ratings firms that are covering the stock, Marketbeat reports. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a hold recommendation and eight have assigned a buy recommendation to the company. The average 1 year target price among analysts that have updated their coverage on the stock in the last year is $21.22.

A number of analysts have recently commented on NLY shares. Barclays started coverage on shares of Annaly Capital Management in a research report on Monday, January 6th. They issued an “equal weight” rating and a $19.00 price objective on the stock. JMP Securities reissued a “market perform” rating on shares of Annaly Capital Management in a research report on Thursday, January 23rd. JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut their price objective on shares of Annaly Capital Management from $20.00 to $19.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, January 21st. Argus raised shares of Annaly Capital Management from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $21.00 price objective on the stock in a research report on Thursday, October 31st. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada boosted their price objective on shares of Annaly Capital Management from $21.00 to $22.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Monday.

Annaly Capital Management Stock Performance

Shares of NLY opened at $20.42 on Friday. Annaly Capital Management has a twelve month low of $17.67 and a twelve month high of $21.11. The firm’s 50 day moving average price is $19.27 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $19.70. The firm has a market cap of $11.45 billion, a P/E ratio of -291.69 and a beta of 1.51.

Annaly Capital Management (NYSE:NLY) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, January 29th. The real estate investment trust reported $0.72 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.67 by $0.05. Annaly Capital Management had a net margin of 2.59% and a return on equity of 14.75%. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that Annaly Capital Management will post 2.65 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Annaly Capital Management Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, January 31st. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, December 31st will be issued a $0.65 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, December 31st. This represents a $2.60 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 12.73%. Annaly Capital Management’s dividend payout ratio is currently -3,714.29%.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Annaly Capital Management

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of NLY. Wellington Management Group LLP boosted its position in shares of Annaly Capital Management by 9.9% in the third quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 537,125 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $10,780,000 after acquiring an additional 48,555 shares during the period. Citigroup Inc. boosted its position in shares of Annaly Capital Management by 22.6% in the third quarter. Citigroup Inc. now owns 652,255 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $13,091,000 after acquiring an additional 120,163 shares during the period. Howard Financial Services LTD. bought a new stake in shares of Annaly Capital Management in the fourth quarter valued at about $527,000. SG Americas Securities LLC boosted its position in shares of Annaly Capital Management by 38.4% in the fourth quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC now owns 367,234 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $6,720,000 after acquiring an additional 101,977 shares during the period. Finally, Invst LLC bought a new stake in shares of Annaly Capital Management in the third quarter valued at about $741,000. 51.56% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Annaly Capital Management Company Profile

Annaly Capital Management, Inc, a diversified capital manager, engages in mortgage finance. The company invests in agency mortgage-backed securities collateralized by residential mortgages; non-agency residential whole loans and securitized products within the residential and commercial markets; mortgage servicing rights; agency commercial mortgage-backed securities; to-be-announced forward contracts; residential mortgage loans; and agency or private label credit risk transfer securities.