Sei Investments Co. Increases Stake in Annaly Capital Management, Inc. (NYSE:NLY)

Sei Investments Co. grew its holdings in shares of Annaly Capital Management, Inc. (NYSE:NLY) by 11.4% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 1,244,074 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock after purchasing an additional 126,980 shares during the quarter. Sei Investments Co. owned approximately 0.22% of Annaly Capital Management worth $22,766,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds have also modified their holdings of NLY. Assetmark Inc. purchased a new stake in Annaly Capital Management during the 4th quarter valued at about $31,000. Blue Trust Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Annaly Capital Management by 78.5% during the 4th quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 1,630 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $33,000 after purchasing an additional 717 shares during the last quarter. Larson Financial Group LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Annaly Capital Management by 34.4% during the 4th quarter. Larson Financial Group LLC now owns 2,143 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $39,000 after purchasing an additional 549 shares during the last quarter. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC grew its position in shares of Annaly Capital Management by 29.3% in the fourth quarter. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC now owns 2,425 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $45,000 after purchasing an additional 549 shares in the last quarter. Finally, UMB Bank n.a. increased its holdings in shares of Annaly Capital Management by 65.7% in the fourth quarter. UMB Bank n.a. now owns 2,598 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $48,000 after purchasing an additional 1,030 shares during the last quarter. 51.56% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Ratings Changes

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

Annaly Capital Management Trading Down 1.1 %

NLY opened at $21.16 on Thursday. The firm has a market cap of $12.24 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 13.31, a PEG ratio of 4.89 and a beta of 1.53. The stock’s 50-day moving average price is $20.93 and its 200 day moving average price is $20.05. Annaly Capital Management, Inc. has a 12-month low of $17.67 and a 12-month high of $22.11.

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 (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.67 by $0.05. Annaly Capital Management had a net margin of 20.70% and a return on equity of 14.95%. On average, research analysts forecast that Annaly Capital Management, Inc. will post 2.81 earnings per share for the current year.

Annaly Capital Management Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, April 30th. Shareholders of record on Monday, March 31st will be paid a $0.70 dividend. This is an increase from Annaly Capital Management’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.65. The ex-dividend date is Monday, March 31st. This represents a $2.80 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 13.23%. Annaly Capital Management’s payout ratio is 176.10%.

Annaly Capital Management Company 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.