Annaly Capital Management (NYSE:NLY) Reaches New 12-Month Low on Analyst Downgrade

Annaly Capital Management, Inc. (NYSE:NLY) shares reached a new 52-week low during trading on Wednesday after Keefe, Bruyette & Woods lowered their price target on the stock from $21.00 to $20.15. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods currently has an outperform rating on the stock. Annaly Capital Management traded as low as $17.08 and last traded at $17.19, with a volume of 2564086 shares changing hands. The stock had previously closed at $17.85.

A number of other brokerages have also weighed in on NLY. Royal Bank of Canada restated an “outperform” rating and issued a $22.00 target price on shares of Annaly Capital Management in a research note on Monday, February 10th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped 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 report on Friday, January 31st. JMP Securities reaffirmed a “market perform” rating on shares of Annaly Capital Management in a research note on Thursday, January 23rd. Finally, Barclays assumed 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 target for the company. Three analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $21.29.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Annaly Capital Management

A number of institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the business. Stratos Wealth Advisors LLC lifted its stake in Annaly Capital Management by 93.1% in the fourth quarter. Stratos Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 275,559 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $5,043,000 after purchasing an additional 132,891 shares during the last quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP lifted its stake in shares of Annaly Capital Management by 9.9% in 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 during the last quarter. Howard Financial Services LTD. bought a new stake in shares of Annaly Capital Management in the 4th quarter valued at about $527,000. Tandem Financial LLC purchased a new stake in Annaly Capital Management during the 4th quarter valued at about $327,000. Finally, Wernau Asset Management Inc. bought a new position in Annaly Capital Management during the 4th quarter worth approximately $229,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 51.56% of the company’s stock.

Annaly Capital Management Trading Down 3.4 %

The stock has a 50 day simple moving average of $20.92 and a 200 day simple moving average of $19.97. The firm has a market capitalization of $9.97 billion, a PE ratio of 10.81, a PEG ratio of 4.89 and a beta of 1.31.

Annaly Capital Management (NYSE:NLY) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, January 29th. The real estate investment trust reported $0.72 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate 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, equities analysts anticipate that Annaly Capital Management, Inc. will post 2.81 earnings per share for the current year.

Annaly Capital Management Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, April 30th. Stockholders of record on Monday, March 31st will be paid a dividend of $0.70 per share. This represents a $2.80 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 16.24%. This is an increase from Annaly Capital Management’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.65. The ex-dividend date is Monday, March 31st. Annaly Capital Management’s dividend payout ratio is 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.