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

Annaly Capital Management, Inc. (NYSE:NLY) declared a quarterly dividend on Friday, March 14th, Wall Street Journal reports. Stockholders 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 dividend yield of 12.94%. The ex-dividend date 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 payment by an average of 43.5% per year over the last three years. Annaly Capital Management has a dividend payout ratio of 91.2% indicating that its dividend is currently covered by earnings, but may not be in the future if the company’s earnings decline. Analysts expect Annaly Capital Management to earn $2.78 per share next year, which means the company should continue to be able to cover its $2.60 annual dividend with an expected future payout ratio of 93.5%.

Annaly Capital Management Trading Up 2.5 %

NYSE NLY traded up $0.53 during trading hours on Friday, reaching $21.63. 6,237,382 shares of the company’s stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 7,628,646. The firm has a fifty day moving average of $20.31 and a 200-day moving average of $19.94. 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 $12.51 billion, a PE ratio of 13.60, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 4.89 and a beta of 1.53.

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

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research analysts have recently issued reports on NLY shares. Barclays assumed coverage on shares of Annaly Capital Management in a research note on Monday, January 6th. They issued an “equal weight” rating and a $19.00 target price on the stock. Royal Bank of Canada reissued an “outperform” rating and issued a $22.00 target price on shares of Annaly Capital Management in a research note on Monday, February 10th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their target price 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. Finally, JMP Securities reissued a “market perform” rating on shares of Annaly Capital Management in a research note on Thursday, January 23rd. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have given a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company 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.