First Financial Bank Trust Division Purchases 1,364 Shares of Annaly Capital Management, Inc. (NYSE:NLY)

First Financial Bank Trust Division grew its position in shares of Annaly Capital Management, Inc. (NYSE:NLY) by 5.0% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 28,703 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock after acquiring an additional 1,364 shares during the period. First Financial Bank Trust Division’s holdings in Annaly Capital Management were worth $525,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. Signaturefd LLC lifted its holdings in Annaly Capital Management by 28.4% in the second quarter. Signaturefd LLC now owns 6,359 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $121,000 after buying an additional 1,406 shares during the period. Concurrent Investment Advisors LLC increased its stake in Annaly Capital Management by 59.3% during the 2nd quarter. Concurrent Investment Advisors LLC now owns 24,173 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $461,000 after purchasing an additional 8,997 shares in the last quarter. Commonwealth Equity Services LLC raised its holdings in Annaly Capital Management by 0.3% in the second quarter. Commonwealth Equity Services LLC now owns 327,069 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $6,234,000 after buying an additional 875 shares during the last quarter. Natixis Advisors LLC lifted its stake in shares of Annaly Capital Management by 45.7% in the second quarter. Natixis Advisors LLC now owns 41,896 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $799,000 after buying an additional 13,132 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Fortem Financial Group LLC grew its holdings in shares of Annaly Capital Management by 0.7% during the second quarter. Fortem Financial Group LLC now owns 122,663 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $2,338,000 after buying an additional 816 shares during the last quarter. 51.56% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of brokerages recently weighed in on NLY. Wells Fargo & Company upgraded shares of Annaly Capital Management from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and boosted their price objective for the stock from $19.00 to $23.00 in a report on Friday, September 20th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. decreased their price target on Annaly Capital Management from $21.00 to $20.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, December 9th. Finally, Argus raised Annaly Capital Management from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $21.00 price objective on the stock in a research report on Thursday, October 31st. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Annaly Capital Management presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $21.50.

Annaly Capital Management Trading Up 0.4 %

NLY stock traded up $0.08 during trading on Thursday, reaching $18.38. The stock had a trading volume of 8,603,912 shares, compared to its average volume of 4,537,830. The firm has a market cap of $10.30 billion, a PE ratio of -262.57 and a beta of 1.51. The stock’s 50 day moving average is $19.43 and its two-hundred day moving average is $19.77. Annaly Capital Management, Inc. has a 52 week low of $17.67 and a 52 week high of $21.11.

Annaly Capital Management (NYSE:NLY) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, October 23rd. The real estate investment trust reported $0.66 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.67 by ($0.01). Annaly Capital Management had a return on equity of 14.75% and a net margin of 2.59%. The business had revenue of $1.23 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $212.00 million. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted $0.66 EPS. On average, research analysts anticipate that Annaly Capital Management, Inc. will post 2.65 EPS for the current year.

Annaly Capital Management Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, January 31st. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, December 31st will be given a dividend of $0.65 per share. This represents a $2.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 14.15%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, December 31st. Annaly Capital Management’s payout ratio is -3,714.29%.

Annaly Capital Management Profile

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.