Annaly Capital Management (NYSE:NLY) Reaches New 1-Year High – Still a Buy?

Annaly Capital Management, Inc. (NYSE:NLY)’s stock price hit a new 52-week high during trading on Friday . The stock traded as high as $21.19 and last traded at $21.22, with a volume of 893369 shares trading hands. The stock had previously closed at $20.93.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of analysts have weighed in on NLY shares. JMP Securities restated a “market perform” rating on shares of Annaly Capital Management in a research report on Thursday, January 23rd. Barclays started coverage on Annaly Capital Management in a report on Monday, January 6th. They set an “equal weight” rating and a $19.00 price objective on the stock. Royal Bank of Canada reiterated an “outperform” rating and issued a $22.00 target price on shares of Annaly Capital Management in a research report on Monday, February 10th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price target on Annaly Capital Management from $19.00 to $21.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, January 31st. Finally, Argus raised Annaly Capital Management from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $21.00 price objective for the company in a research note on Thursday, October 31st. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, Annaly Capital Management currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $21.44.

Annaly Capital Management Stock Performance

The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.22, a quick ratio of 0.08 and a current ratio of 0.12. The stock’s 50 day moving average price is $19.46 and its 200 day moving average price is $19.74. The company has a market capitalization of $11.90 billion, a P/E ratio of 13.36, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 4.66 and a beta of 1.52.

Annaly Capital Management (NYSE:NLY) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, January 29th. The real estate investment trust reported $0.72 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.67 by $0.05. Annaly Capital Management had a return on equity of 14.95% and a net margin of 20.70%. As a group, equities analysts expect that Annaly Capital Management, Inc. will post 2.81 EPS for the current year.

Annaly Capital Management Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, January 31st. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, December 31st were issued a dividend of $0.65 per share. This represents a $2.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 12.24%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, December 31st. Annaly Capital Management’s payout ratio is 163.52%.

Institutional Trading of Annaly Capital Management

Hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD grew its holdings in Annaly Capital Management by 31.6% in the fourth quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 34,426,571 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $630,007,000 after purchasing an additional 8,272,674 shares during the period. Norges Bank acquired a new stake in shares of Annaly Capital Management in the 4th quarter valued at about $127,397,000. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its position in Annaly Capital Management by 12.0% in the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 54,721,696 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $1,001,407,000 after buying an additional 5,859,104 shares in the last quarter. KBC Group NV raised its stake in Annaly Capital Management by 238.9% during the 4th quarter. KBC Group NV now owns 5,198,020 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $95,124,000 after buying an additional 3,664,098 shares during the period. Finally, Northern Trust Corp boosted its holdings in Annaly Capital Management by 90.6% in the fourth quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 7,587,581 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $138,853,000 after acquiring an additional 3,606,366 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 51.56% of the company’s stock.

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.