Thrivent Financial for Lutherans Grows Stake in Annaly Capital Management Inc $NLY

Thrivent Financial for Lutherans raised its stake in Annaly Capital Management Inc (NYSE:NLY) by 40.0% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 315,265 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock after acquiring an additional 90,041 shares during the quarter. Thrivent Financial for Lutherans’ holdings in Annaly Capital Management were worth $7,079,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its stake in Annaly Capital Management by 5.0% in the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 63,613,639 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $1,422,401,000 after acquiring an additional 3,024,564 shares during the last quarter. State Street Corp boosted its stake in Annaly Capital Management by 7.4% in the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 24,371,827 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $508,920,000 after acquiring an additional 1,687,839 shares during the last quarter. Northern Trust Corp boosted its stake in Annaly Capital Management by 1.1% in the third quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 6,604,380 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $133,475,000 after acquiring an additional 70,262 shares during the last quarter. UBS AM A Distinct Business Unit of UBS Asset Management Americas LLC boosted its stake in Annaly Capital Management by 394.1% in the third quarter. UBS AM A Distinct Business Unit of UBS Asset Management Americas LLC now owns 5,374,696 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $108,623,000 after acquiring an additional 4,286,893 shares during the last quarter. Finally, UBS Group AG boosted its stake in Annaly Capital Management by 21.4% in the third quarter. UBS Group AG now owns 3,662,780 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $74,025,000 after acquiring an additional 645,527 shares during the last quarter. 51.56% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Transactions at Annaly Capital Management

In other Annaly Capital Management news, COO Steven Francis Campbell sold 26,491 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, February 25th. The shares were sold at an average price of $22.83, for a total value of $604,789.53. Following the sale, the chief operating officer directly owned 178,000 shares in the company, valued at $4,063,740. This represents a 12.95% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. 0.22% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Annaly Capital Management Stock Up 1.3%

NYSE NLY opened at $21.56 on Thursday. The company’s 50 day moving average is $21.99 and its 200-day moving average is $22.49. Annaly Capital Management Inc has a 12-month low of $18.43 and a 12-month high of $24.52. The firm has a market cap of $15.80 billion, a P/E ratio of 7.28, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 6.50 and a beta of 1.20.

Annaly Capital Management (NYSE:NLY) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, April 21st. The real estate investment trust reported $0.76 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.74 by $0.02. The company had revenue of $341.56 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $595.27 million. Annaly Capital Management had a net margin of 34.33% and a return on equity of 15.92%. Equities analysts expect that Annaly Capital Management Inc will post 2.98 EPS for the current year.

Annaly Capital Management Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, April 30th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, March 31st were paid a $0.70 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, March 31st. This represents a $2.80 annualized dividend and a yield of 13.0%. Annaly Capital Management’s dividend payout ratio is currently 94.59%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

NLY has been the topic of a number of research analyst reports. UBS Group reiterated a “neutral” rating and issued a $23.00 target price (up from $22.50) on shares of Annaly Capital Management in a research note on Friday, April 24th. JonesTrading reiterated a “buy” rating and issued a $25.00 target price on shares of Annaly Capital Management in a research note on Wednesday, April 22nd. Barclays set a $24.00 target price on shares of Annaly Capital Management and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Friday, January 30th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods boosted their target price on shares of Annaly Capital Management from $23.25 to $25.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, January 30th. Finally, Royal Bank Of Canada boosted their target price on shares of Annaly Capital Management from $23.00 to $25.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 5th. 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 MarketBeat.com, Annaly Capital Management presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $24.22.

Annaly Capital Management Profile

Annaly Capital Management, Inc is a publicly traded real estate investment trust (REIT) that specializes in generating income through investment in mortgage-related assets. The company’s core business activities include the acquisition, financing, and management of a diversified portfolio of agency and non-agency residential mortgage-backed securities (RMBS), commercial mortgage-backed securities (CMBS), and other real estate debt instruments. Annaly seeks to profit from the spread between the interest earned on its mortgage investments and its cost of funds, as well as from capital gains realized through active portfolio management.

Founded in 1997 and headquartered in New York City, Annaly has grown to become one of the largest mortgage REITs in the United States.