Annaly Capital Management, Inc. (NYSE:NLY) Short Interest Update

Annaly Capital Management, Inc. (NYSE:NLY) saw a significant decline in short interest in February. As of February 28th, there was short interest totalling 11,250,000 shares, a decline of 22.6% from the February 13th total of 14,540,000 shares. Currently, 2.0% of the company’s stock are sold short. Based on an average daily trading volume, of 7,610,000 shares, the short-interest ratio is presently 1.5 days.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the business. Avior Wealth Management LLC lifted its stake in Annaly Capital Management by 209.9% in the 3rd quarter. Avior Wealth Management LLC now owns 1,255 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $25,000 after purchasing an additional 850 shares in the last quarter. Blue Trust Inc. raised its position in shares of Annaly Capital Management by 78.5% during the 4th quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 1,630 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $33,000 after buying an additional 717 shares during the period. Assetmark Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Annaly Capital Management during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $31,000. Larson Financial Group LLC raised its position in shares of Annaly Capital Management by 34.4% during the 4th quarter. Larson Financial Group LLC now owns 2,143 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $39,000 after buying an additional 549 shares during the period. Finally, Fourth Dimension Wealth LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Annaly Capital Management during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $39,000. 51.56% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Annaly Capital Management Price Performance

NLY stock traded up $0.27 during trading on Monday, hitting $21.88. The stock had a trading volume of 3,681,827 shares, compared to its average volume of 7,547,546. Annaly Capital Management has a twelve month low of $17.67 and a twelve month high of $22.11. The stock has a market capitalization of $12.65 billion, a P/E ratio of 13.75, a PEG ratio of 4.89 and a beta of 1.53. The company’s 50-day moving average price is $20.42 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $19.96.

Annaly Capital Management (NYSE:NLY) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, January 29th. The real estate investment trust reported $0.72 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.67 by $0.05. Annaly Capital Management had a return on equity of 14.95% and a net margin of 20.70%. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that Annaly Capital Management will post 2.81 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Annaly Capital Management Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced 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. This represents a $2.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 12.80%. This is a positive change from Annaly Capital Management’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.65. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, March 31st. Annaly Capital Management’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 163.52%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities analysts recently commented on NLY shares. Barclays started coverage on shares of Annaly Capital Management in a research note on Monday, January 6th. They issued an “equal weight” rating and a $19.00 price objective 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. JMP Securities reissued a “market perform” rating on shares of Annaly Capital Management in a research note on Thursday, January 23rd. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price target on Annaly Capital Management from $19.00 to $21.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, January 31st. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have given a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $21.44.

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.