Analysts Set Annaly Capital Management, Inc. (NYSE:NLY) Target Price at $21.44

Annaly Capital Management, Inc. (NYSE:NLY) has earned an average recommendation of “Moderate Buy” from the ten brokerages that are presently covering the firm, MarketBeat reports. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold recommendation and eight have issued a buy recommendation on the company. The average 1-year price objective among analysts that have issued ratings on the stock in the last year is $21.44.

A number of equities research analysts recently weighed in on NLY shares. Barclays initiated coverage on shares of Annaly Capital Management in a report on Monday, January 6th. They set an “equal weight” rating and a $19.00 price target for the company. JMP Securities restated a “market perform” rating on shares of Annaly Capital Management in a research note on Thursday, January 23rd. Royal Bank of Canada reissued an “outperform” rating and set a $22.00 price target on shares of Annaly Capital Management in a research report on Monday, February 10th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price target on shares of Annaly Capital Management from $19.00 to $21.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, January 31st.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of NLY. Avior Wealth Management LLC boosted its stake in Annaly Capital Management by 209.9% in the third quarter. Avior Wealth Management LLC now owns 1,255 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $25,000 after acquiring an additional 850 shares during the period. Assetmark Inc. acquired a new position in Annaly Capital Management in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $31,000. Blue Trust Inc. boosted its position in 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 period. Larson Financial Group LLC boosted its position in 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 period. Finally, Fourth Dimension Wealth LLC acquired a new position in Annaly Capital Management during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $39,000. 51.56% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Annaly Capital Management Stock Down 0.6 %

NLY stock opened at $21.79 on Friday. The company has a market cap of $12.60 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 13.71, a PEG ratio of 4.89 and a beta of 1.53. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $20.61 and a 200-day simple moving average of $20.00. 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 announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, January 29th. The real estate investment trust reported $0.72 earnings per share 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 expect that Annaly Capital Management will post 2.81 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Annaly Capital Management Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, April 30th. Shareholders of record on Monday, March 31st will be issued a $0.70 dividend. This represents a $2.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 12.85%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, March 31st. This is an increase from Annaly Capital Management’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.65. Annaly Capital Management’s payout ratio is currently 176.10%.

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.