Annaly Capital Management Inc (NYSE:NLY) Receives Average Rating of "Moderate Buy" from Brokerages

Key Points

• Analysts have an average rating of "Moderate Buy" on Annaly from 12 firms (seven buys, four holds, one strong buy) with a consensus 12‑month price target of $23.89.
• Annaly declared a quarterly dividend of $0.70 (annualized $2.80), implying a 12.3% yield and a payout ratio of about 100.7%; the ex‑dividend date is March 31 and payment is April 30.
• The company beat quarterly EPS estimates ($0.74 vs. $0.72) and reported $1.06B in revenue, but insiders have recently sold shares (71,252 shares over the last 90 days) while institutional ownership stands around 51.6%.

Annaly Capital Management Inc (NYSE:NLY - Get Free Report) has been assigned an average rating of "Moderate Buy" from the twelve research firms that are currently covering the firm, Marketbeat reports. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, seven have issued a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. The average 12 month price target among brokerages that have covered the stock in the last year is $23.8889.

NLY has been the topic of several recent research reports. Barclays set a $24.00 target price on shares of Annaly Capital Management and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a report on Friday, January 30th. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a "hold (c)" rating on shares of Annaly Capital Management in a report on Wednesday, January 21st. Argus raised shares of Annaly Capital Management to a "strong-buy" rating in a report on Thursday, February 5th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reduced their target price on shares of Annaly Capital Management from $25.00 to $23.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a report on Thursday. Finally, BTIG Research raised shares of Annaly Capital Management from a "neutral" rating to a "buy" rating and set a $25.00 target price on the stock in a report on Tuesday, January 6th.

Annaly Capital Management Stock Performance

Annaly Capital Management stock opened at $22.81 on Friday. The firm's fifty day moving average price is $22.23 and its 200-day moving average price is $22.26. The stock has a market cap of $16.38 billion, a P/E ratio of 8.20, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 6.88 and a beta of 1.23. Annaly Capital Management has a fifty-two week low of $17.39 and a fifty-two week high of $24.52.

Annaly Capital Management (NYSE:NLY - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, January 28th. The real estate investment trust reported $0.74 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.72 by $0.02. The firm had revenue of $1.06 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $567.67 million. Annaly Capital Management had a net margin of 34.02% and a return on equity of 15.80%. On average, analysts predict that Annaly Capital Management will post 2.81 earnings per share for the current year.

Annaly Capital Management Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, April 30th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, March 31st will be given a dividend of $0.70 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, March 31st. This represents a $2.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 12.3%. Annaly Capital Management's dividend payout ratio is presently 100.72%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, COO Steven Francis Campbell sold 28,225 shares of Annaly Capital Management stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, February 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $23.12, for a total transaction of $652,562.00. Following the sale, the chief operating officer owned 204,491 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $4,727,831.92. The trade was a 12.13% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, CFO Serena Wolfe sold 16,536 shares of Annaly Capital Management stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, February 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $23.14, for a total transaction of $382,643.04. Following the sale, the chief financial officer directly owned 173,081 shares in the company, valued at $4,005,094.34. The trade was a 8.72% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Insiders have sold a total of 71,252 shares of company stock valued at $1,639,995 in the last ninety days. 0.22% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Annaly Capital Management

A number of large investors have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its position in Annaly Capital Management by 5.0% during the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 63,613,639 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock valued at $1,422,401,000 after acquiring an additional 3,024,564 shares during the period. State Street Corp lifted its stake in shares of Annaly Capital Management by 8.4% in the fourth quarter. State Street Corp now owns 26,425,278 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock worth $608,994,000 after buying an additional 2,053,451 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its stake in shares of Annaly Capital Management by 8.9% in the fourth quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 18,401,487 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock worth $411,031,000 after buying an additional 1,503,559 shares in the last quarter. Norges Bank bought a new position in shares of Annaly Capital Management in the fourth quarter worth approximately $162,477,000. Finally, Morgan Stanley lifted its stake in shares of Annaly Capital Management by 33.5% in the fourth quarter. Morgan Stanley now owns 6,977,329 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock worth $156,013,000 after buying an additional 1,751,509 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 51.56% of the company's stock.

About Annaly Capital Management

Annaly Capital Management, Inc is a publicly traded real estate investment trust (REIT) that specializes in generating income through investment in mortgage-related assets. The company's core business activities include the acquisition, financing, and management of a diversified portfolio of agency and non-agency residential mortgage-backed securities (RMBS), commercial mortgage-backed securities (CMBS), and other real estate debt instruments. Annaly seeks to profit from the spread between the interest earned on its mortgage investments and its cost of funds, as well as from capital gains realized through active portfolio management.

Founded in 1997 and headquartered in New York City, Annaly has grown to become one of the largest mortgage REITs in the United States.

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