Norges Bank Acquires Shares of 6,961,567 Annaly Capital Management, Inc. (NYSE:NLY)

Norges Bank acquired a new stake in Annaly Capital Management, Inc. (NYSE:NLY) during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The institutional investor acquired 6,961,567 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock, valued at approximately $127,397,000. Norges Bank owned 1.24% of Annaly Capital Management at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of NLY. Stratos Wealth Advisors LLC raised its stake in Annaly Capital Management by 93.1% during the fourth quarter. Stratos Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 275,559 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $5,043,000 after acquiring an additional 132,891 shares in the last quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP grew its holdings in shares of Annaly Capital Management by 9.9% in the 3rd quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 537,125 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $10,780,000 after purchasing an additional 48,555 shares during the last quarter. Howard Financial Services LTD. acquired a new stake in shares of Annaly Capital Management during the 4th quarter worth about $527,000. Tandem Financial LLC bought a new position in Annaly Capital Management during the 4th quarter valued at about $327,000. Finally, Wernau Asset Management Inc. acquired a new position in Annaly Capital Management in the fourth quarter valued at about $229,000. Institutional investors own 51.56% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several analysts have recently weighed in on the stock. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price objective on shares of Annaly Capital Management from $19.00 to $21.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, January 31st. Barclays began coverage on Annaly Capital Management in a report on Monday, January 6th. They set an “equal weight” rating and a $19.00 price target for the company. Royal Bank of Canada reissued an “outperform” rating and issued a $22.00 price objective on shares of Annaly Capital Management in a research note on Monday, February 10th. Finally, JMP Securities restated a “market perform” rating on shares of Annaly Capital Management in a research note on Thursday, January 23rd. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $21.44.

Annaly Capital Management Stock Down 1.7 %

NLY stock opened at $20.31 on Tuesday. The business has a fifty day moving average of $21.01 and a 200-day moving average of $20.06. The company has a market cap of $11.74 billion, a P/E ratio of 12.77, a PEG ratio of 4.89 and a beta of 1.53. Annaly Capital Management, Inc. has a twelve month low of $17.67 and a twelve month high of $22.11.

Annaly Capital Management (NYSE:NLY) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, January 29th. The real estate investment trust reported $0.72 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.67 by $0.05. Annaly Capital Management had a net margin of 20.70% and a return on equity of 14.95%. As a group, equities research analysts anticipate that Annaly Capital Management, Inc. will post 2.81 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Annaly Capital Management Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, April 30th. Shareholders of record on Monday, March 31st will be paid a $0.70 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, March 31st. This is a boost from Annaly Capital Management’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.65. This represents a $2.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 13.79%. Annaly Capital Management’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 176.10%.

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.