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

Shares of Annaly Capital Management, Inc. (NYSE:NLY) have received a consensus recommendation of “Moderate Buy” from the ten research firms that are currently covering the firm, MarketBeat reports. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have assigned a buy rating to the company. The average 1 year price objective among brokerages that have updated their coverage on the stock in the last year is $21.44.

Several research analysts have recently weighed in on the stock. Barclays assumed coverage on shares of Annaly Capital Management in a report on Monday, January 6th. They issued an “equal weight” rating and a $19.00 price target on the stock. JMP Securities reaffirmed a “market perform” rating on shares of Annaly Capital Management in a report on Thursday, January 23rd. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price target 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. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada reiterated an “outperform” rating and issued a $22.00 target price on shares of Annaly Capital Management in a research report on Monday, February 10th.

Annaly Capital Management Price Performance

Shares of NLY stock opened at $21.63 on Friday. The company’s fifty day simple moving average is $20.42 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $19.96. Annaly Capital Management has a 1 year low of $17.67 and a 1 year high of $22.11. The stock has a market capitalization of $12.51 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 13.60, a PEG ratio of 4.89 and a beta of 1.53.

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

Annaly Capital Management Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, April 30th. Shareholders of record on Monday, March 31st will be given a dividend of $0.70 per share. This represents a $2.80 annualized dividend and a yield of 12.94%. This is a positive change from Annaly Capital Management’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.65. The ex-dividend date is Monday, March 31st. Annaly Capital Management’s dividend payout ratio is presently 163.52%.

Institutional Trading of Annaly Capital Management

Several institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its position in Annaly Capital Management by 12.0% during the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 54,721,696 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $1,001,407,000 after buying an additional 5,859,104 shares during the period. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD boosted its position in Annaly Capital Management by 31.6% during the fourth quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 34,426,571 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $630,007,000 after buying an additional 8,272,674 shares during the period. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC boosted its position in Annaly Capital Management by 0.6% during the fourth quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC now owns 18,099,719 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $332,665,000 after buying an additional 109,655 shares during the period. State Street Corp raised its stake in shares of Annaly Capital Management by 1.3% during the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 17,400,024 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $360,296,000 after acquiring an additional 223,294 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Geode Capital Management LLC raised its stake in shares of Annaly Capital Management by 9.4% during the fourth quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 9,453,133 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $172,706,000 after acquiring an additional 814,917 shares during the last quarter. 51.56% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.