Annaly Capital Management Inc (NYSE:NLY) Receives Consensus Rating of “Moderate Buy” from Analysts

Shares of Annaly Capital Management Inc (NYSE:NLY) have earned an average recommendation of “Moderate Buy” from the twelve analysts that are currently covering the stock, MarketBeat.com reports. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold recommendation, seven have issued a buy recommendation and one has assigned a strong buy recommendation to the company. The average 12 month price target among analysts that have updated their coverage on the stock in the last year is $24.1111.

NLY has been the subject of several research reports. Barclays set a $24.00 price target on Annaly Capital Management and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Friday, January 30th. BTIG Research raised shares of Annaly Capital Management from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $25.00 price objective on the stock in a report on Tuesday, January 6th. Wells Fargo & Company reiterated an “overweight” rating and set a $25.00 target price (up from $23.00) on shares of Annaly Capital Management in a research report on Thursday, January 29th. Argus upgraded shares of Annaly Capital Management to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 5th. Finally, Royal Bank Of Canada boosted their price target on shares of Annaly Capital Management from $23.00 to $25.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 5th.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, COO Steven Francis Campbell sold 26,491 shares of Annaly Capital Management stock in a transaction on Wednesday, February 25th. The stock was sold at an average price of $22.83, for a total value of $604,789.53. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief operating officer directly owned 178,000 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,063,740. The trade was a 12.95% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, CFO Serena Wolfe sold 16,536 shares of Annaly Capital Management stock in a transaction on Wednesday, February 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $23.14, for a total value of $382,643.04. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer owned 173,081 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $4,005,094.34. This trade represents a 8.72% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Insiders have sold a total of 71,252 shares of company stock worth $1,639,995 in the last three months. Insiders own 0.22% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Annaly Capital Management

Institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Fourth Dimension Wealth LLC increased its position in shares of Annaly Capital Management by 76.9% during the fourth quarter. Fourth Dimension Wealth LLC now owns 1,150 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $26,000 after buying an additional 500 shares during the period. Delos Wealth Advisors LLC bought a new position in shares of Annaly Capital Management in the second quarter valued at approximately $28,000. Evolution Wealth Management Inc. purchased a new position in Annaly Capital Management during the second quarter valued at approximately $29,000. Camelot Portfolios LLC purchased a new position in Annaly Capital Management during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $29,000. Finally, Mcguire Capital Advisors Inc. bought a new stake in Annaly Capital Management during the 4th quarter worth approximately $31,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 51.56% of the company’s stock.

Annaly Capital Management Trading Down 0.5%

Annaly Capital Management stock opened at $21.16 on Wednesday. The business’s 50 day simple moving average is $22.64 and its 200 day simple moving average is $22.20. Annaly Capital Management has a 12 month low of $16.59 and a 12 month high of $24.52. The company has a market cap of $15.20 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 7.61, a PEG ratio of 6.53 and a beta of 1.24.

Annaly Capital Management (NYSE:NLY) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, January 28th. The real estate investment trust reported $0.74 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.72 by $0.02. The business had revenue of $1.06 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $567.67 million. Annaly Capital Management had a return on equity of 15.80% and a net margin of 34.02%. As a group, equities research analysts forecast that Annaly Capital Management will post 2.81 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Annaly Capital Management Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, April 30th. Investors of record on Tuesday, March 31st will be paid a $0.70 dividend. This represents a $2.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 13.2%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, March 31st. Annaly Capital Management’s payout ratio is currently 100.72%.

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.