Annaly Capital Management Sees Unusually Large Options Volume (NYSE:NLY)

Annaly Capital Management, Inc. (NYSE:NLY - Get Free Report) saw unusually large options trading on Tuesday. Stock investors bought 15,922 put options on the company. This represents an increase of approximately 41% compared to the average volume of 11,288 put options.

Institutional Trading of Annaly Capital Management

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the business. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD increased its position in shares of 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 worth $630,007,000 after acquiring an additional 8,272,674 shares in the last quarter. Norges Bank acquired a new position in Annaly Capital Management during the 4th quarter valued at about $127,397,000. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its holdings in Annaly Capital Management by 12.0% during the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 54,721,696 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock worth $1,001,407,000 after purchasing an additional 5,859,104 shares in the last quarter. KBC Group NV raised its stake in shares of Annaly Capital Management by 238.9% in the fourth quarter. KBC Group NV now owns 5,198,020 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock worth $95,124,000 after purchasing an additional 3,664,098 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Northern Trust Corp lifted its holdings in shares of Annaly Capital Management by 90.6% in the fourth quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 7,587,581 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock valued at $138,853,000 after purchasing an additional 3,606,366 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 51.56% of the company's stock.

Annaly Capital Management Trading Down 0.5 %

NLY stock traded down $0.10 during midday trading on Friday, hitting $19.32. The stock had a trading volume of 8,553,074 shares, compared to its average volume of 6,113,698. The business has a fifty day moving average price of $19.99 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $19.78. Annaly Capital Management has a 1-year low of $16.60 and a 1-year high of $22.11. The firm has a market cap of $11.54 billion, a P/E ratio of 12.15, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 4.89 and a beta of 1.25.

Annaly Capital Management (NYSE:NLY - Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, April 30th. The real estate investment trust reported $0.72 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.71 by $0.01. The company had revenue of $186.64 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $418.04 million. Annaly Capital Management had a return on equity of 14.95% and a net margin of 20.70%. On average, equities 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 was paid on Wednesday, April 30th. Investors of record on Monday, March 31st were given a $0.70 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, March 31st. This represents a $2.80 annualized dividend and a yield of 14.49%. This is an increase from Annaly Capital Management's previous quarterly dividend of $0.65. Annaly Capital Management's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 314.61%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research firms have commented on NLY. JPMorgan Chase & Co. decreased their target price on shares of Annaly Capital Management from $21.00 to $19.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, April 16th. Jones Trading reaffirmed a "buy" rating and issued a $21.00 target price on shares of Annaly Capital Management in a report on Friday. JMP Securities reissued a "market perform" rating on shares of Annaly Capital Management in a research note on Thursday, January 23rd. Barclays started coverage on 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. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada reiterated an "outperform" rating and set a $22.00 target price on shares of Annaly Capital Management in a research report on Monday, February 10th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nine have assigned a buy rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Annaly Capital Management has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $21.10.

Annaly Capital Management Company Profile

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.