Summit Securities Group LLC Reduces Stock Position in Annaly Capital Management, Inc. (NYSE:NLY)

Summit Securities Group LLC reduced its holdings in shares of Annaly Capital Management, Inc. (NYSE:NLY) by 88.2% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 5,900 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock after selling 43,900 shares during the quarter. Summit Securities Group LLC’s holdings in Annaly Capital Management were worth $108,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in NLY. Allstate Corp acquired a new stake in Annaly Capital Management in the fourth quarter valued at $289,000. Brown Brothers Harriman & Co. acquired a new stake in shares of Annaly Capital Management in the 4th quarter valued at about $180,000. Pictet Asset Management Holding SA lifted its position in shares of Annaly Capital Management by 9.2% during the fourth quarter. Pictet Asset Management Holding SA now owns 281,974 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $5,160,000 after purchasing an additional 23,789 shares during the last quarter. New Age Alpha Advisors LLC acquired a new position in Annaly Capital Management in the fourth quarter worth about $115,000. Finally, Norges Bank bought a new stake in Annaly Capital Management in the fourth quarter valued at about $127,397,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 51.56% of the company’s stock.

Annaly Capital Management Stock Down 2.1 %

Shares of NLY stock opened at $20.66 on Friday. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $20.99 and a 200 day simple moving average of $20.06. Annaly Capital Management, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $17.67 and a fifty-two week high of $22.11. The stock has a market capitalization of $11.95 billion, a P/E ratio of 12.99, a P/E/G ratio of 4.89 and a beta of 1.53.

Annaly Capital Management (NYSE:NLY) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, January 29th. The real estate investment trust reported $0.72 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping 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 earnings per share for the current year.

Annaly Capital Management Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, April 30th. Investors of record on Monday, March 31st will be paid a $0.70 dividend. This is a positive change from Annaly Capital Management’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.65. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, March 31st. This represents a $2.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 13.56%. Annaly Capital Management’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 176.10%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research analysts have recently commented on NLY shares. Barclays initiated coverage on Annaly Capital Management in a research report on Monday, January 6th. They issued an “equal weight” rating and a $19.00 target price for the company. JMP Securities restated a “market perform” rating on shares of Annaly Capital Management in a research note on Thursday, January 23rd. Royal Bank of Canada reissued an “outperform” rating and issued a $22.00 price target on shares of Annaly Capital Management in a report on Monday, February 10th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price objective on shares of Annaly Capital Management from $19.00 to $21.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, January 31st. Three analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have issued a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Annaly Capital Management currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $21.44.

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.