Bank of Nova Scotia Buys New Stake in Annaly Capital Management, Inc. (NYSE:NLY)

Bank of Nova Scotia bought a new position in Annaly Capital Management, Inc. (NYSE:NLY - Free Report) during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund bought 18,925 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock, valued at approximately $346,000.

A number of other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in NLY. Assetmark Inc. bought a new stake in Annaly Capital Management in the 4th quarter worth approximately $31,000. Blue Trust Inc. increased its position in Annaly Capital Management by 78.5% in the fourth 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 increased its position in Annaly Capital Management by 34.4% in the fourth 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 raised its stake in Annaly Capital Management by 29.3% during 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. lifted its position in Annaly Capital Management by 65.7% during 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 hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several analysts have recently issued reports on NLY shares. Royal Bank of Canada restated an "outperform" rating and set a $22.00 target price on shares of Annaly Capital Management in a research report on Monday, February 10th. JMP Securities restated a "market perform" rating on shares of Annaly Capital Management in a research report on Thursday, January 23rd. JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut their price objective on shares of Annaly Capital Management from $21.00 to $19.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods lowered their target price on shares of Annaly Capital Management from $21.00 to $20.15 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, April 8th. Finally, Barclays assumed coverage on shares of Annaly Capital Management in a report on Monday, January 6th. They set an "equal weight" rating and a $19.00 price target on the stock. Three analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $21.07.

Annaly Capital Management Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:NLY traded up $0.27 during trading on Friday, reaching $17.90. 6,901,621 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 5,961,030. The firm has a market capitalization of $10.69 billion, a PE ratio of 11.25, a P/E/G ratio of 4.89 and a beta of 1.31. The business's fifty day simple moving average is $20.46 and its 200-day simple moving average is $19.83. Annaly Capital Management, Inc. has a 12-month low of $16.60 and a 12-month high of $22.11.

Annaly Capital Management (NYSE:NLY - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, January 29th. The real estate investment trust reported $0.72 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating 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%. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that Annaly Capital Management, Inc. will post 2.81 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Annaly Capital Management Increases Dividend

The business 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 dividend of $0.70 per share. This is a positive change from Annaly Capital Management's previous quarterly dividend of $0.65. The ex-dividend date is Monday, March 31st. This represents a $2.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 15.65%. Annaly Capital Management's dividend payout ratio is presently 176.10%.

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.