Seeds Investor LLC Purchases New Holdings in Annaly Capital Management, Inc. (NYSE:NLY)

Seeds Investor LLC purchased a new position in shares of Annaly Capital Management, Inc. (NYSE:NLY) during the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The institutional investor purchased 10,186 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock, valued at approximately $186,000.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Assetmark Inc. bought a new position in shares of Annaly Capital Management during the 4th quarter worth $31,000. Blue Trust Inc. lifted its stake 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 buying an additional 717 shares in the last quarter. Larson Financial Group LLC grew its stake in Annaly Capital Management by 34.4% in 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 buying an additional 549 shares in the last quarter. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC lifted its position in shares of Annaly Capital Management by 29.3% during the fourth quarter. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC now owns 2,425 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $45,000 after acquiring an additional 549 shares in the last quarter. Finally, UMB Bank n.a. boosted its holdings in shares of Annaly Capital Management by 65.7% in the fourth quarter. UMB Bank n.a. now owns 2,598 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $48,000 after acquiring an additional 1,030 shares during the period. 51.56% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Annaly Capital Management Price Performance

Shares of Annaly Capital Management stock opened at $17.83 on Tuesday. Annaly Capital Management, Inc. has a one year low of $16.60 and a one year high of $22.11. The business’s 50 day simple moving average is $20.68 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $19.89. The stock has a market capitalization of $10.65 billion, a P/E ratio of 11.21, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 4.89 and a beta of 1.31.

Annaly Capital Management (NYSE:NLY) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, January 29th. The real estate investment trust reported $0.72 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.67 by $0.05. Annaly Capital Management had a return on equity of 14.95% and a net margin of 20.70%. Sell-side analysts expect that Annaly Capital Management, Inc. will post 2.81 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Annaly Capital Management Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, April 30th. Stockholders of record on Monday, March 31st will be given a $0.70 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Monday, March 31st. This represents a $2.80 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 15.70%. This is a positive change from Annaly Capital Management’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.65. Annaly Capital Management’s dividend payout ratio is currently 176.10%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of brokerages recently issued reports on NLY. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods dropped their price objective on Annaly Capital Management from $21.00 to $20.15 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, April 8th. Royal Bank of Canada reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and set a $22.00 target price on shares of Annaly Capital Management in a report on Monday, February 10th. Barclays initiated coverage on shares of Annaly Capital Management in a report on Monday, January 6th. They issued an “equal weight” rating and a $19.00 price target for the company. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their target price on Annaly Capital Management from $19.00 to $21.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, January 31st. Finally, JMP Securities reiterated a “market perform” rating on shares of Annaly Capital Management in a research report on Thursday, January 23rd. Three analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have issued a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $21.29.

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.