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

Shares of Annaly Capital Management, Inc. (NYSE:NLY) have been assigned a consensus recommendation of “Moderate Buy” from the nine research firms that are currently covering the firm, MarketBeat.com reports. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a hold recommendation and eight have issued a buy recommendation on the company. The average 12-month price target among analysts that have updated their coverage on the stock in the last year is $21.50.

Several research analysts recently issued reports on NLY shares. Wells Fargo & Company raised Annaly Capital Management from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and upped their target price for the company from $19.00 to $23.00 in a research report on Friday, September 20th. Argus raised Annaly Capital Management from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $21.00 target price on the stock in a research report on Thursday, October 31st. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered their price objective on Annaly Capital Management from $21.00 to $20.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, December 9th.

Annaly Capital Management Stock Performance

NLY stock opened at $18.98 on Monday. The business has a 50-day simple moving average of $19.39 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $19.75. Annaly Capital Management has a 52-week low of $17.67 and a 52-week high of $21.11. The company has a market capitalization of $10.64 billion, a P/E ratio of -271.14 and a beta of 1.51.

Annaly Capital Management (NYSE:NLY) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, October 23rd. The real estate investment trust reported $0.66 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 company 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, sell-side analysts forecast that Annaly Capital Management will post 2.65 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Annaly Capital Management Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, January 31st. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, December 31st will be given a dividend of $0.65 per share. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, December 31st. This represents a $2.60 annualized dividend and a yield of 13.70%. Annaly Capital Management’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently -3,714.29%.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Annaly Capital Management

Several large investors have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Wellington Management Group LLP lifted its stake in Annaly Capital Management by 9.9% during the 3rd quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 537,125 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $10,780,000 after acquiring an additional 48,555 shares in the last quarter. Citigroup Inc. raised its holdings in Annaly Capital Management by 22.6% during the 3rd quarter. Citigroup Inc. now owns 652,255 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $13,091,000 after buying an additional 120,163 shares during the last quarter. Invst LLC bought a new stake in shares of Annaly Capital Management during the 3rd quarter valued at about $741,000. Confluence Investment Management LLC bought a new position in Annaly Capital Management during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $1,110,000. Finally, Geode Capital Management LLC increased its holdings in Annaly Capital Management by 2.9% in the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 8,638,216 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $172,988,000 after buying an additional 241,465 shares in the last quarter. 51.56% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

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.