Traders Purchase High Volume of Annaly Capital Management Put Options (NYSE:NLY)

Annaly Capital Management, Inc. (NYSE:NLY – Get Rating) saw some unusual options trading on Thursday. Traders acquired 41,910 put options on the stock. This is an increase of approximately 209% compared to the average volume of 13,552 put options.

Institutional Trading of Annaly Capital Management

Large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Proffitt & Goodson Inc. grew its stake in shares of Annaly Capital Management by 4.9% in the fourth quarter. Proffitt & Goodson Inc. now owns 9,640 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $203,000 after buying an additional 450 shares in the last quarter. West Wealth Group LLC grew its position in Annaly Capital Management by 4.7% in the fourth quarter. West Wealth Group LLC now owns 10,609 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $224,000 after acquiring an additional 479 shares in the last quarter. Soltis Investment Advisors LLC raised its stake in shares of Annaly Capital Management by 1.8% during the fourth quarter. Soltis Investment Advisors LLC now owns 29,172 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $615,000 after purchasing an additional 504 shares during the period. Equitable Holdings Inc. lifted its position in shares of Annaly Capital Management by 3.1% during the fourth quarter. Equitable Holdings Inc. now owns 17,455 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $368,000 after purchasing an additional 523 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Perigon Wealth Management LLC boosted its stake in shares of Annaly Capital Management by 3.1% in the first quarter. Perigon Wealth Management LLC now owns 17,793 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $340,000 after purchasing an additional 533 shares during the period. 52.80% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities research analysts recently commented on NLY shares. Wells Fargo & Company lowered their price objective on shares of Annaly Capital Management from $23.00 to $21.00 in a research note on Friday, April 28th. StockNews.com began coverage on shares of Annaly Capital Management in a research note on Thursday, March 16th. They set a “sell” rating for the company. Royal Bank of Canada upped their target price on Annaly Capital Management from $20.00 to $24.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, February 17th. Argus downgraded Annaly Capital Management from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday, February 21st. They noted that the move was a valuation call. Finally, Piper Sandler upgraded Annaly Capital Management from a “neutral” rating to an “overweight” rating and lifted their price objective for the stock from $20.00 to $21.50 in a research report on Tuesday, May 2nd. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have assigned a hold rating and five have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $22.28.

Annaly Capital Management Price Performance

Shares of Annaly Capital Management stock opened at $19.11 on Friday. The stock has a market capitalization of $9.44 billion, a P/E ratio of -8.49 and a beta of 1.36. The company has a current ratio of 0.08, a quick ratio of 0.08 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.85. The business’s fifty day moving average price is $18.98 and its 200 day moving average price is $20.58. Annaly Capital Management has a twelve month low of $15.11 and a twelve month high of $27.96.

Annaly Capital Management (NYSE:NLY – Get Rating) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, April 27th. The real estate investment trust reported $0.81 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.72 by $0.09. The business had revenue of $818.25 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $183.00 million. Annaly Capital Management had a positive return on equity of 18.86% and a negative net margin of 38.80%. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $1.12 EPS. As a group, research analysts anticipate that Annaly Capital Management will post 2.86 earnings per share for the current year.

Annaly Capital Management Cuts Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, April 28th. Investors of record on Friday, March 31st were given a dividend of $0.65 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, March 30th. This represents a $2.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 13.61%. Annaly Capital Management’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is -115.56%.

About Annaly Capital Management

(Get Rating)

Annaly Capital Management, Inc engages in the investment and financing of residential and commercial assets. It operates through the following investment groups: Agency, Residential Credit, and Mortgage Servicing Rights. The Agency group invests in agency mortgage-backed securities. The Residential Credit group involves non-agency residential mortgage assets within securitized products and whole loan markets.