Annaly Capital Management, Inc. (NYSE:NLY) Declares Dividend Increase – $0.70 Per Share

Annaly Capital Management, Inc. (NYSE:NLY) announced a quarterly dividend on Thursday, March 13th, Wall Street Journal reports. Investors of record on Monday, March 31st will be given a dividend of 0.70 per share by the real estate investment trust on Wednesday, April 30th. This represents a $2.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 13.56%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, March 31st. This is a 7.7% increase from Annaly Capital Management’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.65.

Annaly Capital Management has raised its dividend by an average of 43.5% annually over the last three years. Annaly Capital Management has a dividend payout ratio of 98.2% meaning its dividend is currently covered by earnings, but may not be in the future if the company’s earnings tumble. Research analysts expect Annaly Capital Management to earn $2.78 per share next year, which means the company may not be able to cover its $2.80 annual dividend with an expected future payout ratio of 100.7%.

Annaly Capital Management Stock Performance

NLY opened at $20.66 on Friday. The stock’s 50 day moving average price is $20.99 and its 200-day moving average price is $20.06. Annaly Capital Management has a one year low of $17.67 and a one year high of $22.11. The stock has a market cap of $11.95 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 12.99, a P/E/G ratio of 4.89 and a beta of 1.53.

Annaly Capital Management (NYSE:NLY) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, January 29th. The real estate investment trust reported $0.72 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.67 by $0.05. Annaly Capital Management had a return on equity of 14.95% and a net margin of 20.70%. As a group, analysts predict that Annaly Capital Management will post 2.81 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

NLY has been the topic of a number of research analyst reports. Royal Bank of Canada restated an “outperform” rating and issued a $22.00 target price on shares of Annaly Capital Management in a research note on Monday, February 10th. Barclays assumed coverage on Annaly Capital Management in a research note on Monday, January 6th. They issued an “equal weight” rating and a $19.00 price objective on the stock. JMP Securities reiterated a “market perform” rating on shares of Annaly Capital Management in a report on Thursday, January 23rd. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price target on Annaly Capital Management from $19.00 to $21.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, January 31st. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $21.44.

Annaly Capital Management Company 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.