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

Annaly Capital Management, Inc. (NYSE:NLY) has been given a consensus recommendation of “Moderate Buy” by the nine ratings firms that are currently covering the company, MarketBeat reports. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold recommendation and seven have assigned a buy recommendation to the company. The average 1-year price target among brokerages that have issued a report on the stock in the last year is $21.38.

A number of research firms have commented on NLY. Wells Fargo & Company raised shares of Annaly Capital Management from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and lifted their price objective for the stock from $19.00 to $23.00 in a report on Friday, September 20th. StockNews.com lowered shares of Annaly Capital Management from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Thursday, July 25th. Janney Montgomery Scott assumed coverage on Annaly Capital Management in a research note on Thursday, June 6th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $21.00 target price for the company. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price target on Annaly Capital Management from $20.00 to $21.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 16th. Finally, Compass Point upped their price objective on Annaly Capital Management from $22.00 to $23.50 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, July 26th.

Insider Transactions at Annaly Capital Management

In related news, CEO David L. Finkelstein sold 50,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, August 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of $20.05, for a total value of $1,002,500.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 612,469 shares in the company, valued at approximately $12,280,003.45. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. 0.21% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Annaly Capital Management

Institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the business. Nomura Asset Management Co. Ltd. boosted its holdings in shares of Annaly Capital Management by 2.6% during the fourth quarter. Nomura Asset Management Co. Ltd. now owns 159,622 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $3,092,000 after purchasing an additional 4,079 shares during the period. Natixis increased its stake in shares of Annaly Capital Management by 16,140.0% in the first quarter. Natixis now owns 68,208 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $1,343,000 after acquiring an additional 67,788 shares during the last quarter. Norges Bank purchased a new stake in shares of Annaly Capital Management during the fourth quarter worth $110,244,000. Cibc World Markets Corp purchased a new stake in shares of Annaly Capital Management during the fourth quarter worth $3,496,000. Finally, Russell Investments Group Ltd. boosted its position in Annaly Capital Management by 27.3% during the first quarter. Russell Investments Group Ltd. now owns 169,043 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $3,303,000 after purchasing an additional 36,269 shares during the last quarter. 51.56% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Annaly Capital Management Stock Performance

Shares of Annaly Capital Management stock opened at $20.30 on Friday. Annaly Capital Management has a 1 year low of $14.52 and a 1 year high of $21.11. The firm’s 50-day simple moving average is $20.12 and its 200-day simple moving average is $19.71. The firm has a market cap of $10.93 billion, a PE ratio of -20.93 and a beta of 1.52.

Annaly Capital Management (NYSE:NLY) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, July 24th. The real estate investment trust reported $0.68 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.66 by $0.02. The firm had revenue of $1.18 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $318.00 million. Annaly Capital Management had a positive return on equity of 15.24% and a negative net margin of 12.02%. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $0.72 earnings per share. On average, equities analysts predict that Annaly Capital Management will post 2.67 earnings per share for the current year.

Annaly Capital Management Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, October 31st. Shareholders of record on Monday, September 30th will be paid a dividend of $0.65 per share. This represents a $2.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 12.81%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, September 30th. Annaly Capital Management’s dividend payout ratio is presently -268.04%.

About Annaly Capital Management

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.