Annaly Capital Management (NYSE:NLY) Price Target Lowered to $22.00 at Piper Sandler

Annaly Capital Management (NYSE:NLY) had its target price decreased by Piper Sandler from $25.00 to $22.00 in a report issued on Thursday morning,Benzinga reports. Piper Sandler currently has an overweight rating on the real estate investment trust’s stock.

A number of other research analysts have also weighed in on NLY. Argus upgraded Annaly Capital Management to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 5th. BTIG Research raised Annaly Capital Management from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $25.00 price target for the company in a research note on Tuesday, January 6th. Wells Fargo & Company restated an “overweight” rating and set a $25.00 price target (up from $23.00) on shares of Annaly Capital Management in a report on Thursday, January 29th. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “hold (c)” rating on shares of Annaly Capital Management in a research note on Wednesday, January 21st. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods upped their price objective on Annaly Capital Management from $23.25 to $25.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, January 30th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, seven have given a Buy rating and four have given a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $23.78.

Annaly Capital Management Price Performance

NLY stock opened at $21.38 on Thursday. The company has a market cap of $15.36 billion, a P/E ratio of 7.69, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 6.49 and a beta of 1.23. Annaly Capital Management has a 1 year low of $16.59 and a 1 year high of $24.52. The stock’s fifty day moving average price is $22.54 and its 200-day moving average price is $22.19.

Annaly Capital Management (NYSE:NLY) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, January 28th. The real estate investment trust reported $0.74 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.72 by $0.02. Annaly Capital Management had a return on equity of 15.80% and a net margin of 34.02%.The company had revenue of $1.06 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $567.67 million. As a group, analysts expect that Annaly Capital Management will post 2.81 earnings per share for the current year.

Annaly Capital Management Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, April 30th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, March 31st will be paid a dividend of $0.70 per share. This represents a $2.80 annualized dividend and a yield of 13.1%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, March 31st. Annaly Capital Management’s payout ratio is presently 100.72%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, COO Steven Francis Campbell sold 26,491 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, February 25th. The stock was sold at an average price of $22.83, for a total value of $604,789.53. Following the completion of the sale, the chief operating officer directly owned 178,000 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $4,063,740. This trade represents a 12.95% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, CFO Serena Wolfe sold 16,536 shares of Annaly Capital Management stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, February 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $23.14, for a total value of $382,643.04. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer owned 173,081 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $4,005,094.34. This trade represents a 8.72% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Over the last 90 days, insiders have sold 71,252 shares of company stock worth $1,639,995. Company insiders own 0.22% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of NLY. Norges Bank bought a new position in Annaly Capital Management during the fourth quarter valued at $162,477,000. UBS AM A Distinct Business Unit of UBS Asset Management Americas LLC boosted its stake in shares of Annaly Capital Management by 394.1% during the 3rd quarter. UBS AM A Distinct Business Unit of UBS Asset Management Americas LLC now owns 5,374,696 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $108,623,000 after purchasing an additional 4,286,893 shares during the period. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its holdings in Annaly Capital Management by 5.0% during the 4th 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 purchasing an additional 3,024,564 shares during the last quarter. PFA Pension Forsikringsaktieselskab purchased a new stake in Annaly Capital Management in the 4th quarter worth about $63,699,000. Finally, Goldman Sachs Group Inc. lifted its stake in Annaly Capital Management by 833.6% in the first quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. now owns 2,920,617 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $59,318,000 after purchasing an additional 2,607,784 shares during the last quarter. 51.56% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

About Annaly Capital Management

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.