Annaly Capital Management Sees Unusually Large Options Volume (NYSE:NLY)

Annaly Capital Management Inc (NYSE:NLY) was the target of unusually large options trading activity on Monday. Stock traders bought 59,400 call options on the company. This is an increase of 533% compared to the typical daily volume of 9,387 call options.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Annaly Capital Management

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the business. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its position in Annaly Capital Management by 5.0% in the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 63,613,639 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $1,422,401,000 after acquiring an additional 3,024,564 shares during the last quarter. State Street Corp boosted its stake in shares of Annaly Capital Management by 8.4% in the 4th quarter. State Street Corp now owns 26,425,278 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $608,994,000 after purchasing an additional 2,053,451 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its stake in shares of Annaly Capital Management by 8.9% in the 4th quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 18,401,487 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $411,031,000 after purchasing an additional 1,503,559 shares in the last quarter. Norges Bank bought a new stake in shares of Annaly Capital Management during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $162,477,000. Finally, Morgan Stanley grew its holdings in shares of Annaly Capital Management by 33.5% during the 4th quarter. Morgan Stanley now owns 6,977,329 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $156,013,000 after purchasing an additional 1,751,509 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 51.56% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of analysts have issued reports on NLY shares. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their price objective on shares of Annaly Capital Management from $23.00 to $24.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, April 23rd. Piper Sandler dropped their price target on shares of Annaly Capital Management from $25.00 to $22.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, April 2nd. UBS Group reiterated a “neutral” rating and issued a $23.00 price target (up from $22.50) on shares of Annaly Capital Management in a research note on Friday, April 24th. Royal Bank Of Canada reissued an “outperform” rating and set a $25.00 price target on shares of Annaly Capital Management in a research report on Wednesday, June 3rd. Finally, Wall Street Zen upgraded Annaly Capital Management from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Saturday, May 2nd. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, seven have given a Buy rating and four have assigned a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $24.11.

Annaly Capital Management Stock Down 0.3%

NLY stock opened at $22.29 on Wednesday. The company’s 50-day moving average price is $22.08 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $22.45. The firm has a market cap of $16.33 billion, a P/E ratio of 7.53, a P/E/G ratio of 7.07 and a beta of 1.17. Annaly Capital Management has a 12 month low of $19.01 and a 12 month high of $24.52.

Annaly Capital Management (NYSE:NLY) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, April 21st. The real estate investment trust reported $0.76 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.74 by $0.02. The company had revenue of $341.56 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $595.27 million. Annaly Capital Management had a net margin of 34.33% and a return on equity of 15.92%. Equities analysts predict that Annaly Capital Management will post 2.98 EPS for the current year.

Annaly Capital Management Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, July 31st. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, June 30th will be paid a dividend of $0.75 per share. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, June 30th. This is a boost from Annaly Capital Management’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.70. This represents a $3.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 13.5%. Annaly Capital Management’s dividend payout ratio is currently 94.59%.

Annaly Capital Management Company Profile

Annaly Capital Management, Inc is a publicly traded real estate investment trust (REIT) that specializes in generating income through investment in mortgage-related assets. The company’s core business activities include the acquisition, financing, and management of a diversified portfolio of agency and non-agency residential mortgage-backed securities (RMBS), commercial mortgage-backed securities (CMBS), and other real estate debt instruments. Annaly seeks to profit from the spread between the interest earned on its mortgage investments and its cost of funds, as well as from capital gains realized through active portfolio management.

Founded in 1997 and headquartered in New York City, Annaly has grown to become one of the largest mortgage REITs in the United States.