Stock Traders Purchase Large Volume of Call Options on Annaly Capital Management (NYSE:NLY)

Annaly Capital Management Inc (NYSE:NLY) was the target of some unusual options trading activity on Tuesday. Stock investors purchased 539,609 call options on the stock. This represents an increase of approximately 3,169% compared to the average daily volume of 16,506 call options.

Annaly Capital Management Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:NLY traded down $0.01 during trading on Tuesday, reaching $23.01. The company had a trading volume of 8,961,499 shares, compared to its average volume of 7,617,495. The firm has a market capitalization of $15.71 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 10.65, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 7.25 and a beta of 1.26. The stock’s fifty day moving average price is $22.07 and its 200 day moving average price is $21.07. Annaly Capital Management has a fifty-two week low of $16.59 and a fifty-two week high of $23.38.

Annaly Capital Management (NYSE:NLY) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, October 22nd. The real estate investment trust reported $0.73 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.72 by $0.01. The firm had revenue of $1.55 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $493.55 million. Annaly Capital Management had a return on equity of 15.96% and a net margin of 26.68%. On average, equities analysts anticipate that Annaly Capital Management will post 2.81 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Annaly Capital Management Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, January 30th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, December 31st will be issued a $0.70 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, December 31st. This represents a $2.80 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 12.2%. Annaly Capital Management’s payout ratio is presently 129.63%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of brokerages recently weighed in on NLY. Weiss Ratings reissued a “hold (c)” rating on shares of Annaly Capital Management in a research report on Wednesday, October 8th. Barclays set a $20.00 target price on Annaly Capital Management and gave the company a “cautious” rating in a report on Monday, October 6th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price target on Annaly Capital Management from $21.00 to $22.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Monday, October 20th. Royal Bank Of Canada increased their price objective on Annaly Capital Management from $21.00 to $23.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Monday, September 15th. Finally, Jones Trading reaffirmed a “buy” rating and issued a $22.00 target price on shares of Annaly Capital Management in a report on Thursday, October 23rd. Five research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, four have assigned a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $21.86.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Annaly Capital Management

Hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. grew its stake in Annaly Capital Management by 49.5% in the 1st quarter. Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. now owns 8,753 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $178,000 after acquiring an additional 2,898 shares during the last quarter. Jump Financial LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Annaly Capital Management in the first quarter valued at about $335,000. Walleye Capital LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Annaly Capital Management by 122.9% in the first quarter. Walleye Capital LLC now owns 10,019 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $203,000 after purchasing an additional 53,739 shares in the last quarter. Ieq Capital LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Annaly Capital Management in the first quarter valued at approximately $215,000. Finally, Twin Tree Management LP purchased a new position in shares of Annaly Capital Management during the 1st quarter worth approximately $29,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds 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.