Annaly Capital Management (NYSE:NLY) Upgraded to “Overweight” at Wells Fargo & Company

Wells Fargo & Company upgraded shares of Annaly Capital Management (NYSE:NLY) from an equal weight rating to an overweight rating in a research report report published on Friday, MarketBeat reports. The firm currently has $23.00 price target on the real estate investment trust’s stock, up from their prior price target of $19.00.

A number of other research analysts have also recently issued reports on NLY. StockNews.com cut shares of Annaly Capital Management from a buy rating to a hold rating in a research report on Thursday, July 25th. JMP Securities reiterated a market perform rating on shares of Annaly Capital Management in a report on Wednesday, August 28th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their price target on Annaly Capital Management from $20.00 to $21.00 and gave the stock an overweight rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 16th. Janney Montgomery Scott assumed coverage on Annaly Capital Management in a research report on Thursday, June 6th. They set a buy rating and a $21.00 price objective for the company. Finally, Compass Point boosted their target price on Annaly Capital Management from $22.00 to $23.50 and gave the stock a buy rating in a report on Friday, July 26th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of Moderate Buy and an average target price of $21.38.

Annaly Capital Management Stock Up 0.4 %

Shares of NYSE NLY opened at $20.88 on Friday. The firm’s fifty day moving average is $20.13 and its 200 day moving average is $19.69. Annaly Capital Management has a 52 week low of $14.52 and a 52 week high of $21.11. The company has a market cap of $10.45 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -21.53 and a beta of 1.52.

Annaly Capital Management (NYSE:NLY) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, July 24th. The real estate investment trust reported $0.68 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.66 by $0.02. The company had revenue of $1.18 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $318.00 million. Annaly Capital Management had a positive return on equity of 15.24% and a negative net margin of 12.02%. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $0.72 earnings per share. Equities research analysts anticipate that Annaly Capital Management will post 2.67 earnings per share for the current year.

Annaly Capital Management Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, October 31st. Investors of record on Monday, September 30th will be given a $0.65 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Monday, September 30th. This represents a $2.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 12.45%. Annaly Capital Management’s dividend payout ratio is currently -268.04%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Annaly Capital Management news, CEO David L. Finkelstein sold 50,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, August 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of $20.05, for a total transaction of $1,002,500.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 612,469 shares in the company, valued at $12,280,003.45. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Corporate insiders own 0.21% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Annaly Capital Management

A number of hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Core Wealth Advisors Inc. raised its position in shares of Annaly Capital Management by 222.2% in the 4th quarter. Core Wealth Advisors Inc. now owns 1,450 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $28,000 after acquiring an additional 1,000 shares in the last quarter. Rise Advisors LLC bought a new position in Annaly Capital Management in the first quarter worth about $29,000. Register Financial Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Annaly Capital Management during the first quarter valued at about $37,000. Quarry LP bought a new stake in shares of Annaly Capital Management in the 2nd quarter valued at about $36,000. Finally, EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Annaly Capital Management by 107.5% in the 1st quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 2,077 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $39,000 after buying an additional 1,076 shares in the last quarter. 51.56% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

About Annaly Capital Management

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.