Annaly Capital Management Sees Unusually Large Options Volume (NYSE:NLY)

Annaly Capital Management Inc (NYSE:NLY) was the recipient of some unusual options trading on Thursday. Stock investors bought 10,591 put options on the company. This represents an increase of approximately 42% compared to the average volume of 7,442 put options.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities research analysts have recently weighed in on NLY shares. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “hold (c)” rating on shares of Annaly Capital Management in a research note on Friday, July 10th. BTIG Research set a $24.00 price target on Annaly Capital Management in a research note on Wednesday, June 17th. Wells Fargo & Company dropped their price objective on Annaly Capital Management from $25.00 to $24.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, July 23rd. Piper Sandler raised their price objective on shares of Annaly Capital Management from $24.50 to $25.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, July 2nd. Finally, Royal Bank Of Canada reiterated an “outperform” rating and issued a $25.00 target price on shares of Annaly Capital Management in a research note on Wednesday, June 3rd. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, seven have issued a Buy rating and four have issued a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, Annaly Capital Management has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $24.33.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the company. DNB Asset Management AS boosted its stake in shares of Annaly Capital Management by 165.4% in the 4th quarter. DNB Asset Management AS now owns 336,067 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $7,514,000 after purchasing an additional 209,435 shares during the last quarter. Legal & General Group Plc raised its stake in shares of Annaly Capital Management by 3.9% during the fourth quarter. Legal & General Group Plc now owns 1,984,768 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $44,379,000 after buying an additional 74,074 shares during the last quarter. Norges Bank bought a new stake in shares of Annaly Capital Management during the fourth quarter worth approximately $162,477,000. Renaissance Technologies LLC lifted its holdings in Annaly Capital Management by 72.1% in the first quarter. Renaissance Technologies LLC now owns 448,222 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $9,480,000 after buying an additional 187,707 shares during the period. Finally, Public Employees Retirement System of Ohio acquired a new position in Annaly Capital Management in the second quarter valued at approximately $4,677,000. 51.56% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Annaly Capital Management Price Performance

NLY traded down $0.47 on Thursday, hitting $22.14. The company had a trading volume of 6,291,337 shares, compared to its average volume of 7,506,441. The company’s fifty day moving average price is $22.91 and its 200 day moving average price is $22.38. Annaly Capital Management has a 1-year low of $20.00 and a 1-year high of $24.52. The stock has a market cap of $16.68 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 5.55, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.79 and a beta of 1.16.

Annaly Capital Management (NYSE:NLY) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, July 21st. The real estate investment trust reported $0.79 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.75 by $0.04. Annaly Capital Management had a return on equity of 16.00% and a net margin of 43.66%.The company had revenue of $1.82 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $639.80 million. On average, sell-side analysts forecast that Annaly Capital Management will post 3.09 EPS for the current year.

Annaly Capital Management Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, October 30th. Investors of record on Wednesday, September 30th will be issued a dividend of $0.75 per share. This represents a $3.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 13.6%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, September 30th. Annaly Capital Management’s dividend payout ratio is currently 75.19%.

About Annaly Capital Management

Annaly Capital Management, Inc is a Maryland-based mortgage real estate investment trust that invests in and manages a portfolio of mortgage-related assets. The company’s primary business is providing capital to the U.S. housing market through investments in agency mortgage-backed securities, which are guaranteed by Fannie Mae, Freddie Mac or Ginnie Mae.

In addition to agency securities, Annaly invests in residential credit assets and mortgage servicing rights. These investments provide exposure to different segments of the residential mortgage market, while the company uses financing, hedging and portfolio management strategies to manage interest-rate and other market risks.

Founded in 1996, Annaly primarily operates in the United States and is internally managed.