AGNC Investment Corp. (NASDAQ:AGNC) Director Frances Spark Sells 5,000 Shares

AGNC Investment Corp. (NASDAQ:AGNC) Director Frances Spark sold 5,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, February 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $10.10, for a total value of $50,500.00. Following the sale, the director now directly owns 75,919 shares in the company, valued at $766,781.90. This represents a 6.18 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link.

AGNC Investment Stock Performance

NASDAQ AGNC opened at $10.07 on Friday. The firm’s fifty day moving average price is $9.56 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $9.88. The stock has a market cap of $8.92 billion, a PE ratio of 10.38 and a beta of 1.48. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.01, a quick ratio of 0.23 and a current ratio of 0.23. AGNC Investment Corp. has a fifty-two week low of $8.92 and a fifty-two week high of $10.85.

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

AGNC Investment Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a jan 25 dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, February 11th. Stockholders of record on Friday, January 31st will be paid a $0.12 dividend. This represents a dividend yield of 15.5%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, January 31st. AGNC Investment’s dividend payout ratio is currently 148.45%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research firms have recently issued reports on AGNC. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods reduced their target price on AGNC Investment from $10.75 to $10.25 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, January 29th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reduced their price objective on shares of AGNC Investment from $10.00 to $9.50 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, December 9th. JMP Securities restated a “market perform” rating on shares of AGNC Investment in a research report on Thursday, January 23rd. Royal Bank of Canada reiterated an “outperform” rating and set a $11.00 price target on shares of AGNC Investment in a research report on Thursday, January 30th. Finally, StockNews.com downgraded shares of AGNC Investment from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research report on Saturday, October 19th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have issued a hold rating and seven have given a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $10.50.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On AGNC Investment

Hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Vaughan Nelson Investment Management L.P. raised its stake in shares of AGNC Investment by 200.5% during the third quarter. Vaughan Nelson Investment Management L.P. now owns 14,446,725 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $151,113,000 after acquiring an additional 9,639,675 shares during the last quarter. PL Capital Advisors LLC increased its holdings in AGNC Investment by 821.0% in the fourth quarter. PL Capital Advisors LLC now owns 5,464,956 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $50,332,000 after purchasing an additional 4,871,584 shares during the period. Raymond James Financial Inc. bought a new position in AGNC Investment during the 4th quarter worth $39,840,000. Natixis Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in AGNC Investment by 314.8% during the 3rd quarter. Natixis Advisors LLC now owns 3,842,814 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $40,196,000 after buying an additional 2,916,345 shares during the period. Finally, ORG Wealth Partners LLC bought a new stake in shares of AGNC Investment in the 3rd quarter valued at about $17,463,000. 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).