AGNC Investment (NASDAQ:AGNC) Trading Up 1.6% – Here’s What Happened

AGNC Investment Corp. (NASDAQ:AGNC)’s stock price was up 1.6% on Monday . The stock traded as high as $8.63 and last traded at $8.48. Approximately 15,630,626 shares were traded during trading, a decline of 14% from the average daily volume of 18,239,131 shares. The stock had previously closed at $8.35.

Analyst Ratings Changes

AGNC has been the topic of several research analyst reports. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods dropped their price target on AGNC Investment from $10.75 to $10.25 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, January 29th. Wells Fargo & Company dropped their target price on AGNC Investment from $12.00 to $11.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, January 30th. Royal Bank of Canada restated an “outperform” rating and set a $11.00 price objective on shares of AGNC Investment in a research note on Thursday, January 30th. JMP Securities reiterated a “market perform” rating on shares of AGNC Investment in a research note on Thursday, January 23rd. Finally, StockNews.com raised shares of AGNC Investment from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday, February 25th. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $10.50.

AGNC Investment Trading Up 1.1 %

The company has a quick ratio of 0.23, a current ratio of 0.23 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.01. The company’s fifty day moving average price is $9.92 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $9.79. The firm has a market cap of $7.73 billion, a PE ratio of 8.70 and a beta of 1.32.

AGNC Investment (NASDAQ:AGNC) last issued its earnings results on Monday, January 27th. The real estate investment trust reported $0.37 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.42 by ($0.05). AGNC Investment had a net margin of 29.26% and a return on equity of 21.92%. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that AGNC Investment Corp. will post 1.61 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

AGNC Investment Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a apr 25 dividend, which will be paid on Friday, May 9th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, April 30th will be given a dividend of $0.12 per share. This represents a yield of 17.7%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, April 30th. AGNC Investment’s payout ratio is currently 148.45%.

Insider Transactions at AGNC Investment

In other AGNC Investment news, Director Frances Spark sold 5,000 shares of AGNC Investment stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, February 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $10.10, for a total value of $50,500.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 75,919 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $766,781.90. The trade was a 6.18 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, CFO Bernice Bell sold 13,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, January 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $10.04, for a total value of $130,520.00. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 372,226 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,737,149.04. This represents a 3.37 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Corporate insiders own 0.42% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On AGNC Investment

Several institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Fourth Dimension Wealth LLC purchased a new stake in AGNC Investment in the 4th quarter valued at about $26,000. Financial Life Planners purchased a new stake in AGNC Investment in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $28,000. National Bank of Canada FI grew its holdings in AGNC Investment by 112.7% in the fourth quarter. National Bank of Canada FI now owns 3,458 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $32,000 after purchasing an additional 1,832 shares during the period. Spire Wealth Management increased its position in AGNC Investment by 94.5% during the fourth quarter. Spire Wealth Management now owns 4,059 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $37,000 after purchasing an additional 1,972 shares during the last quarter. Finally, CoreCap Advisors LLC raised its stake in AGNC Investment by 34.8% during the fourth quarter. CoreCap Advisors LLC now owns 4,765 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $44,000 after purchasing an additional 1,229 shares during the period. 38.28% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

About AGNC Investment

AGNC Investment Corp., formerly American Capital Agency Corp., is a real estate investment trust. The Company invests in agency residential mortgage-backed securities on a leveraged basis. Its investments consist of residential mortgage pass-through securities and collateralized mortgage obligations (CMOs) for which the principal and interest payments are guaranteed by a government-sponsored enterprise, such as the Federal National Mortgage Association (Fannie Mae) and the Federal Home Loan Mortgage Corporation (Freddie Mac), or by the United States Government agency, such as the Government National Mortgage Association (Ginnie Mae) (collectively, GSEs).