Annaly Capital Management, Inc. (NYSE:NLY) Given Consensus Recommendation of “Moderate Buy” by Brokerages

Annaly Capital Management, Inc. (NYSE:NLY) has earned an average recommendation of “Moderate Buy” from the ten analysts that are covering the firm, MarketBeat Ratings reports. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold recommendation and eight have assigned a buy recommendation to the company. The average 12 month target price among brokerages that have covered the stock in the last year is $21.44.

Several brokerages have weighed in on NLY. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price objective on shares of Annaly Capital Management from $19.00 to $21.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, January 31st. Barclays began coverage on shares of 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. Royal Bank of Canada reiterated an “outperform” rating and issued a $22.00 price objective on shares of Annaly Capital Management in a research note on Monday, February 10th. Finally, JMP Securities reiterated a “market perform” rating on shares of Annaly Capital Management in a research note on Thursday, January 23rd.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Annaly Capital Management

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Avior Wealth Management LLC grew its holdings in shares of Annaly Capital Management by 209.9% during the 3rd quarter. Avior Wealth Management LLC now owns 1,255 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $25,000 after purchasing an additional 850 shares during the last quarter. Assetmark Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Annaly Capital Management during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $31,000. Blue Trust Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Annaly Capital Management by 78.5% during the 4th quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 1,630 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $33,000 after purchasing an additional 717 shares during the last quarter. Larson Financial Group LLC grew its holdings in shares of Annaly Capital Management by 34.4% during the 4th quarter. Larson Financial Group LLC now owns 2,143 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $39,000 after purchasing an additional 549 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Fourth Dimension Wealth LLC bought a new stake in Annaly Capital Management during the 4th quarter worth approximately $39,000. 51.56% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Annaly Capital Management Stock Performance

NYSE NLY opened at $21.70 on Friday. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $20.75 and a 200-day moving average of $20.02. The stock has a market cap of $12.55 billion, a PE ratio of 13.64, a P/E/G ratio of 4.89 and a beta of 1.53. Annaly Capital Management has a 52-week low of $17.67 and a 52-week high of $22.11.

Annaly Capital Management (NYSE:NLY) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, January 29th. The real estate investment trust reported $0.72 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.67 by $0.05. Annaly Capital Management had a net margin of 20.70% and a return on equity of 14.95%. As a group, analysts predict that Annaly Capital Management will post 2.81 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Annaly Capital Management Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, April 30th. Investors of record on Monday, March 31st will be issued a dividend of $0.70 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, March 31st. This is a positive change from Annaly Capital Management’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.65. This represents a $2.80 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 12.91%. Annaly Capital Management’s payout ratio is 176.10%.

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.