AGNC Investment (NASDAQ:AGNC) Shares Up 0.1% Following Earnings Beat

AGNC Investment Corp. (NASDAQ:AGNC) traded up 0.1% during trading on Tuesday following a stronger than expected earnings report. The stock traded as high as $9.29 and last traded at $9.21. 6,795,513 shares traded hands during trading, a decline of 42% from the average session volume of 11,665,848 shares. The stock had previously closed at $9.20.

The real estate investment trust reported $0.58 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.56 by $0.02. AGNC Investment had a return on equity of 28.02% and a net margin of 7.59%. The company had revenue of $642.00 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $568.38 million. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $0.70 earnings per share.

AGNC Investment Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a apr 24 dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, May 9th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, April 30th will be given a $0.12 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, April 29th. This represents a dividend yield of 15.4%. AGNC Investment’s payout ratio is 14,414.41%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

AGNC has been the subject of a number of recent research reports. Jonestrading started coverage on AGNC Investment in a research note on Friday, March 22nd. They set a “buy” rating and a $10.75 price objective for the company. StockNews.com upgraded AGNC Investment from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday, March 12th. Royal Bank of Canada cut their target price on AGNC Investment from $11.00 to $10.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, January 25th. Compass Point started coverage on AGNC Investment in a research report on Tuesday, February 20th. They set a “buy” rating and a $10.25 price objective on the stock. Finally, Barclays boosted their target price on shares of AGNC Investment from $8.00 to $9.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Monday, January 22nd. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and four have issued a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $9.93.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other AGNC Investment news, CFO Bernice Bell sold 10,000 shares of AGNC Investment stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, January 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $9.85, for a total value of $98,500.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 287,282 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,829,727.70. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. 0.43% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Trading of AGNC Investment

Institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Vaughan Nelson Investment Management L.P. purchased a new stake in shares of AGNC Investment during the 4th quarter valued at $38,593,000. Citigroup Inc. raised its stake in shares of AGNC Investment by 103.2% in the 3rd quarter. Citigroup Inc. now owns 185,721 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $1,753,000 after purchasing an additional 94,332 shares in the last quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp raised its stake in shares of AGNC Investment by 4.7% in the 3rd quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp now owns 1,752,044 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $16,539,000 after purchasing an additional 78,253 shares in the last quarter. Stifel Financial Corp grew its position in shares of AGNC Investment by 48.0% during the 3rd quarter. Stifel Financial Corp now owns 451,460 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $4,262,000 after buying an additional 146,406 shares during the last quarter. Finally, QRG Capital Management Inc. bought a new position in AGNC Investment in the 3rd quarter worth about $3,655,000. 38.28% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

AGNC Investment Trading Up 0.8 %

The firm’s 50-day simple moving average is $9.55 and its 200 day simple moving average is $9.26. The company has a current ratio of 0.26, a quick ratio of 0.26 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.01. The stock has a market cap of $6.44 billion, a P/E ratio of 921.92 and a beta of 1.45.

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).