Annaly Capital Management (NYSE:NLY) Shares Gap Down to $19.68

Shares of Annaly Capital Management, Inc. (NYSE:NLY - Get Free Report) gapped down before the market opened on Friday . The stock had previously closed at $19.68, but opened at $19.19. Annaly Capital Management shares last traded at $19.17, with a volume of 798,621 shares trading hands.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

NLY has been the subject of a number of recent analyst reports. StockNews.com upgraded shares of Annaly Capital Management from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a report on Monday, May 13th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods reiterated an "outperform" rating and issued a $21.50 target price on shares of Annaly Capital Management in a research note on Wednesday, March 27th. Janney Montgomery Scott initiated coverage on shares of Annaly Capital Management in a research note on Thursday, June 6th. They issued a "buy" rating and a $21.00 target price for the company. JMP Securities reiterated a "market perform" rating on shares of Annaly Capital Management in a research note on Thursday, April 18th. Finally, Jonestrading reiterated a "buy" rating and issued a $21.00 target price on shares of Annaly Capital Management in a research note on Thursday, April 25th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have given a buy rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $21.07.

Annaly Capital Management Stock Down 3.2 %

The stock has a market cap of $9.53 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -19.64 and a beta of 1.53. The company's 50-day moving average is $19.64 and its 200-day moving average is $19.41.

Annaly Capital Management (NYSE:NLY - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, April 25th. The real estate investment trust reported $0.64 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, hitting the consensus estimate of $0.64. The firm had revenue of $1.09 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $320.00 million. Annaly Capital Management had a negative net margin of 8.38% and a positive return on equity of 15.13%. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted $0.81 earnings per share. On average, research analysts forecast that Annaly Capital Management, Inc. will post 2.64 earnings per share for the current year.

Annaly Capital Management Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, July 31st. Stockholders of record on Friday, June 28th will be issued a dividend of $0.65 per share. This represents a $2.60 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 13.65%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, June 28th. Annaly Capital Management's payout ratio is -268.04%.

Institutional Trading of Annaly Capital Management

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of NLY. Norges Bank bought a new position in Annaly Capital Management in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $110,244,000. Balyasny Asset Management L.P. boosted its stake in Annaly Capital Management by 159.7% in the fourth quarter. Balyasny Asset Management L.P. now owns 6,118,940 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock valued at $118,524,000 after acquiring an additional 3,762,652 shares during the last quarter. Algebris UK Ltd boosted its position in shares of Annaly Capital Management by 195.9% during the first quarter. Algebris UK Ltd now owns 4,034,821 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock worth $87,532,000 after purchasing an additional 2,671,236 shares in the last quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its position in shares of Annaly Capital Management by 3.4% during the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 49,300,019 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock worth $954,941,000 after purchasing an additional 1,619,729 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Victory Capital Management Inc. boosted its position in shares of Annaly Capital Management by 1,505.6% during the fourth quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. now owns 1,676,931 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock worth $32,482,000 after purchasing an additional 1,572,487 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 51.56% of the company's stock.

About Annaly Capital Management

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.