AGNC Investment (NASDAQ:AGNC) Shares Up 0.1% – Here’s Why

AGNC Investment Corp. (NASDAQ:AGNC)’s share price traded up 0.1% on Tuesday . The stock traded as high as $10.49 and last traded at $10.45. 5,283,367 shares traded hands during trading, a decline of 72% from the average session volume of 18,999,488 shares. The stock had previously closed at $10.43.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

AGNC has been the topic of a number of analyst reports. Argus raised AGNC Investment to a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday, February 4th. Royal Bank of Canada restated an “outperform” rating and set a $11.00 price objective on shares of AGNC Investment in a report on Thursday, January 30th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reduced their target price on AGNC Investment from $10.00 to $9.50 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, December 9th. JMP Securities restated a “market perform” rating on shares of AGNC Investment in a research note on Thursday, January 23rd. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company reduced their price objective on shares of AGNC Investment from $12.00 to $11.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, January 30th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have given a hold rating and seven have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $10.50.

AGNC Investment Stock Up 0.6 %

The stock’s fifty day simple moving average is $9.70 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $9.90. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.01, a current ratio of 0.23 and a quick ratio of 0.23. The company has a market capitalization of $9.33 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 10.86 and a beta of 1.48.

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 return on equity of 21.92% and a net margin of 29.26%. On average, sell-side analysts predict 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 feb 25 dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, March 11th. Shareholders of record on Friday, February 28th will be paid a dividend of $0.12 per share. This represents a yield of 13.8%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, February 28th. AGNC Investment’s payout ratio is currently 148.46%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, Director Frances Spark sold 5,000 shares of AGNC Investment stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, February 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $10.10, for a total transaction of $50,500.00. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 75,919 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $766,781.90. The trade was a 6.18 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, CFO Bernice Bell sold 13,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, January 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $10.04, for a total transaction of $130,520.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 372,226 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,737,149.04. The trade was a 3.37 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.52% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On AGNC Investment

Several hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in AGNC. Fourth Dimension Wealth LLC acquired a new position in shares of AGNC Investment in the 4th quarter worth $26,000. Financial Life Planners purchased a new position in AGNC Investment during the 4th quarter worth approximately $28,000. Point72 Asset Management L.P. acquired a new stake in AGNC Investment during the 3rd quarter valued at $32,000. National Bank of Canada FI lifted its holdings in shares of 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 in the last quarter. Finally, Blue Trust Inc. boosted its position in shares of AGNC Investment by 315.9% in the third quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 3,905 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $37,000 after buying an additional 2,966 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 38.28% of the company’s stock.

AGNC Investment Company Profile

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).