Annaly Capital Management Inc (NYSE:NLY) Given Average Recommendation of "Moderate Buy" by Analysts

Key Points

• Analyst consensus is “Moderate Buy” for Annaly Capital Management, with seven buy ratings, four holds and one strong-buy rating. The average 12-month price target is $24.33, above the reported share price of $21.38.
• Institutional investors own 51.56% of the company, with major holders including BlackRock, Geode Capital Management and Norges Bank increasing or establishing positions.
• Annaly exceeded quarterly earnings expectations, reporting $0.79 in EPS versus a $0.75 estimate. The company also declared a $0.75 quarterly dividend, equivalent to a 14.0% annualized yield.

Shares of Annaly Capital Management Inc (NYSE:NLY - Get Free Report) have been given an average recommendation of "Moderate Buy" by the twelve brokerages that are currently covering the stock, Marketbeat Ratings reports. Four analysts have rated the stock with a hold recommendation, seven have assigned a buy recommendation and one has given a strong buy recommendation to the company. The average 1-year target price among brokers that have issued a report on the stock in the last year is $24.3333.

A number of equities analysts have recently weighed in on the company. Piper Sandler increased their target price on Annaly Capital Management from $24.50 to $25.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research note on Thursday, July 2nd. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reduced their price target on Annaly Capital Management from $26.00 to $24.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a research note on Friday, July 24th. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a "hold (c)" rating on shares of Annaly Capital Management in a report on Friday, July 10th. Wells Fargo & Company lowered their price objective on Annaly Capital Management from $25.00 to $24.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, July 23rd. Finally, Royal Bank Of Canada reissued an "outperform" rating and set a $25.00 target price on shares of Annaly Capital Management in a report on Wednesday, June 3rd.

Institutional Trading of Annaly Capital Management

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of NLY. BlackRock Inc. grew its position in shares of Annaly Capital Management by 6.7% during the 2nd quarter. BlackRock Inc. now owns 87,219,586 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock worth $1,950,230,000 after purchasing an additional 5,485,296 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC raised its position 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 valued at $411,031,000 after buying an additional 1,503,559 shares in the last quarter. Norges Bank bought a new stake in shares of Annaly Capital Management in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $162,477,000. Bank of New York Mellon Corp boosted its stake in shares of Annaly Capital Management by 6.0% in the fourth quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 4,714,355 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock valued at $105,413,000 after buying an additional 265,437 shares during the period. Finally, KBC Group NV grew its position in Annaly Capital Management by 44.2% during the first quarter. KBC Group NV now owns 4,976,006 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock worth $105,243,000 after buying an additional 1,525,251 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 51.56% of the company's stock.

Annaly Capital Management Stock Performance

Shares of NLY opened at $21.38 on Wednesday. Annaly Capital Management has a 52 week low of $20.00 and a 52 week high of $24.52. The firm has a market cap of $16.11 billion, a P/E ratio of 5.36, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.72 and a beta of 1.16. The firm's 50-day simple moving average is $22.84 and its 200 day simple moving average is $22.34.

Annaly Capital Management (NYSE:NLY - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, July 21st. The real estate investment trust reported $0.79 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.75 by $0.04. Annaly Capital Management had a net margin of 43.66% and a return on equity of 16.00%. The firm had revenue of $1.82 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $639.80 million. As a group, equities analysts forecast that Annaly Capital Management will post 3.09 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 Friday, October 30th. Investors of record on Wednesday, September 30th will be given a dividend of $0.75 per share. This represents a $3.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 14.0%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, September 30th. Annaly Capital Management's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 75.19%.

Annaly Capital Management Company Profile

Annaly Capital Management, Inc is a Maryland-based mortgage real estate investment trust that invests in and manages a portfolio of mortgage-related assets. The company's primary business is providing capital to the U.S. housing market through investments in agency mortgage-backed securities, which are guaranteed by Fannie Mae, Freddie Mac or Ginnie Mae.

In addition to agency securities, Annaly invests in residential credit assets and mortgage servicing rights. These investments provide exposure to different segments of the residential mortgage market, while the company uses financing, hedging and portfolio management strategies to manage interest-rate and other market risks.

Founded in 1996, Annaly primarily operates in the United States and is internally managed.

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