Analysts Set Annaly Capital Management, Inc. (NYSE:NLY) Target Price at $21.50

Shares of Annaly Capital Management, Inc. (NYSE:NLY) have been assigned an average rating of “Moderate Buy” from the nine research firms that are currently covering the stock, Marketbeat.com reports. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a hold recommendation and eight have assigned a buy recommendation to the company. The average 1-year price target among analysts that have updated their coverage on the stock in the last year is $21.50.

A number of research analysts have recently commented on the company. Wells Fargo & Company upgraded Annaly Capital Management from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and increased their target price for the company from $19.00 to $23.00 in a research report on Friday, September 20th. Argus upgraded shares of Annaly Capital Management from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $21.00 price objective for the company in a research report on Thursday, October 31st. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. dropped their price objective on shares of Annaly Capital Management from $21.00 to $20.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, December 9th.

Institutional Trading of Annaly Capital Management

Several institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC boosted its stake in shares of Annaly Capital Management by 531.3% during the third quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC now owns 3,981,081 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $79,900,000 after purchasing an additional 3,350,435 shares during the period. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC lifted its holdings in Annaly Capital Management by 8.1% during the 3rd quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC now owns 17,990,064 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $361,061,000 after buying an additional 1,342,056 shares in the last quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted its position in Annaly Capital Management by 21.5% in the 3rd quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 3,057,037 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $61,355,000 after buying an additional 541,869 shares during the period. International Assets Investment Management LLC grew its stake in Annaly Capital Management by 2,254.2% in the 3rd quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 449,706 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $90,260,000 after acquiring an additional 430,604 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Clarity Financial LLC purchased a new position in shares of Annaly Capital Management during the third quarter worth approximately $6,687,000. Institutional investors own 51.56% of the company’s stock.

Annaly Capital Management Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE NLY opened at $18.30 on Monday. The company has a market cap of $10.26 billion, a P/E ratio of -261.43 and a beta of 1.51. Annaly Capital Management has a 52-week low of $17.67 and a 52-week high of $21.11. The firm’s fifty day moving average is $19.43 and its two-hundred day moving average is $19.77.

Annaly Capital Management (NYSE:NLY) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, October 23rd. The real estate investment trust reported $0.66 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.67 by ($0.01). Annaly Capital Management had a return on equity of 14.75% and a net margin of 2.59%. The firm had revenue of $1.23 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $212.00 million. During the same period last year, the firm posted $0.66 earnings per share. As a group, analysts forecast that Annaly Capital Management will post 2.65 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Annaly Capital Management Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, January 31st. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, December 31st will be issued a $0.65 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, December 31st. This represents a $2.60 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 14.21%. Annaly Capital Management’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently -3,714.29%.

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.