Annaly Capital Management (NYSE:NLY) Upgraded to “Overweight” at Wells Fargo & Company

Wells Fargo & Company upgraded shares of Annaly Capital Management (NYSE:NLY) from an equal weight rating to an overweight rating in a report released on Friday, MarketBeat Ratings reports. The firm currently has $23.00 target price on the real estate investment trust’s stock, up from their prior target price of $19.00.

Other analysts have also recently issued reports about the stock. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price objective on shares of Annaly Capital Management from $20.00 to $21.00 and gave the stock an overweight rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 16th. StockNews.com cut Annaly Capital Management from a buy rating to a hold rating in a report on Thursday, July 25th. Compass Point upped their price objective on Annaly Capital Management from $22.00 to $23.50 and gave the stock a buy rating in a research note on Friday, July 26th. Janney Montgomery Scott began coverage on Annaly Capital Management in a research note on Thursday, June 6th. They set a buy rating and a $21.00 target price on the stock. Finally, JMP Securities reissued a market perform rating on shares of Annaly Capital Management in a report on Wednesday, August 28th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Annaly Capital Management currently has a consensus rating of Moderate Buy and an average target price of $21.38.

Annaly Capital Management Stock Performance

NYSE:NLY opened at $20.88 on Friday. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $20.12 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $19.67. The firm has a market capitalization of $10.45 billion, a PE ratio of -21.53 and a beta of 1.52. Annaly Capital Management has a 52-week low of $14.52 and a 52-week high of $21.11.

Annaly Capital Management (NYSE:NLY) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, July 24th. The real estate investment trust reported $0.68 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.66 by $0.02. Annaly Capital Management had a positive return on equity of 15.24% and a negative net margin of 12.02%. The company had revenue of $1.18 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $318.00 million. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $0.72 EPS. Equities analysts forecast that Annaly Capital Management will post 2.67 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Annaly Capital Management Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, October 31st. Shareholders of record on Monday, September 30th will be issued a dividend of $0.65 per share. This represents a $2.60 annualized dividend and a yield of 12.45%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, September 30th. Annaly Capital Management’s dividend payout ratio is presently -268.04%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, CEO David L. Finkelstein sold 50,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, August 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of $20.05, for a total transaction of $1,002,500.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 612,469 shares in the company, valued at approximately $12,280,003.45. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Corporate insiders own 0.21% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Annaly Capital Management

A number of large investors have recently made changes to their positions in NLY. Beaird Harris Wealth Management LLC lifted its position in shares of Annaly Capital Management by 21.4% during the first quarter. Beaird Harris Wealth Management LLC now owns 2,837 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $56,000 after purchasing an additional 500 shares during the last quarter. Redmont Wealth Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in Annaly Capital Management by 20.6% during the 2nd quarter. Redmont Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 3,279 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $62,000 after buying an additional 559 shares in the last quarter. Sunbelt Securities Inc. boosted its position in Annaly Capital Management by 6.0% in the 1st quarter. Sunbelt Securities Inc. now owns 9,937 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $196,000 after buying an additional 562 shares during the period. Meiji Yasuda Asset Management Co Ltd. grew its stake in Annaly Capital Management by 3.0% in the 2nd quarter. Meiji Yasuda Asset Management Co Ltd. now owns 20,537 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $391,000 after acquiring an additional 597 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Retirement Group LLC increased its position in shares of Annaly Capital Management by 27.7% during the first quarter. Retirement Group LLC now owns 3,168 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $62,000 after acquiring an additional 687 shares during the period. 51.56% of the stock is currently owned by 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.