Annaly Capital Management Inc (NYSE:NLY) Short Interest Down 19.7% in April

Annaly Capital Management Inc (NYSE:NLY) saw a significant decline in short interest in the month of April. As of April 15th, there was short interest totaling 17,410,192 shares, a decline of 19.7% from the March 31st total of 21,670,917 shares. Based on an average daily volume of 5,565,809 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is currently 3.1 days. Approximately 2.4% of the company’s shares are short sold.

Annaly Capital Management Price Performance

Shares of NLY stock traded down $0.06 on Friday, hitting $22.84. The stock had a trading volume of 3,981,491 shares, compared to its average volume of 5,231,736. The company’s 50 day moving average price is $22.20 and its 200-day moving average price is $22.37. Annaly Capital Management has a 1 year low of $18.43 and a 1 year high of $24.52. The firm has a market capitalization of $16.41 billion, a P/E ratio of 7.72, a P/E/G ratio of 6.99 and a beta of 1.20.

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 the consensus estimate of $0.74 by $0.02. Annaly Capital Management had a return on equity of 15.92% and a net margin of 34.33%.The company had revenue of $341.56 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $595.27 million. On average, equities analysts forecast that Annaly Capital Management will post 2.98 EPS for the current year.

Annaly Capital Management Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, April 30th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, March 31st were issued a dividend of $0.70 per share. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, March 31st. This represents a $2.80 annualized dividend and a yield of 12.3%. Annaly Capital Management’s dividend payout ratio is 94.59%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities research analysts have commented on the company. Argus upgraded Annaly Capital Management to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 5th. Piper Sandler reduced their target price on Annaly Capital Management from $25.00 to $22.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, April 2nd. Barclays set a $24.00 target price on Annaly Capital Management and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Friday, January 30th. Weiss Ratings restated a “hold (c)” rating on shares of Annaly Capital Management in a research report on Wednesday, January 21st. Finally, JonesTrading restated a “buy” rating and issued a $25.00 target price on shares of Annaly Capital Management in a research report on Wednesday, April 22nd. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, seven have assigned a Buy rating and four have given a Hold rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $24.22.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Annaly Capital Management news, CFO Serena Wolfe sold 16,536 shares of Annaly Capital Management stock in a transaction 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 sale, the chief financial officer owned 173,081 shares in the company, valued at $4,005,094.34. The trade was a 8.72% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, COO Steven Francis Campbell sold 26,491 shares of Annaly Capital Management stock in a transaction on Wednesday, February 25th. The shares were 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 owned 178,000 shares in the company, valued at $4,063,740. This represents a 12.95% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Insiders sold 71,252 shares of company stock worth $1,639,995 in the last 90 days. Company insiders own 0.22% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Annaly Capital Management

Several large investors have recently bought and sold shares of NLY. Norges Bank purchased a new stake in Annaly Capital Management during the 4th quarter worth about $162,477,000. UBS AM A Distinct Business Unit of UBS Asset Management Americas LLC increased its holdings in 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. increased 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 worth $1,422,401,000 after purchasing an additional 3,024,564 shares during the period. PFA Pension Forsikringsaktieselskab purchased a new stake in Annaly Capital Management during the 4th quarter worth about $63,699,000. Finally, Goldman Sachs Group Inc. increased its holdings in Annaly Capital Management by 833.6% during the 1st 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 period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 51.56% of the company’s stock.

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.