AGNC Investment (NASDAQ:AGNC) Stock Price Down 7.9% – Here’s What Happened

AGNC Investment Corp. (NASDAQ:AGNC) was down 7.9% during trading on Thursday . The company traded as low as $8.00 and last traded at $8.21. Approximately 23,797,069 shares traded hands during mid-day trading, an increase of 33% from the average daily volume of 17,889,947 shares. The stock had previously closed at $8.91.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities analysts have weighed in on AGNC shares. Royal Bank of Canada reissued an “outperform” rating and issued a $11.00 target price on shares of AGNC Investment in a research note on Thursday, January 30th. StockNews.com raised shares of AGNC Investment from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday, February 25th. Argus raised shares of AGNC Investment to a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday, February 4th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods lowered their price objective on shares of AGNC Investment from $10.75 to $10.25 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, January 29th. Finally, JMP Securities reiterated a “market perform” rating on shares of AGNC Investment in a report on Thursday, January 23rd. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $10.50.

AGNC Investment Price Performance

The company has a current ratio of 0.23, a quick ratio of 0.23 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.01. The company has a 50 day simple moving average of $9.99 and a 200 day simple moving average of $9.82. The stock has a market cap of $7.42 billion, a P/E ratio of 8.35 and a beta of 1.32.

AGNC Investment (NASDAQ:AGNC) last released its earnings results 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 net margin of 29.26% and a return on equity of 21.92%. 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 business also recently declared 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. AGNC Investment’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 148.45%.

Insider Transactions at AGNC Investment

In other AGNC Investment news, CFO Bernice Bell sold 13,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, January 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $10.04, for a total transaction of $130,520.00. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer now 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 sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, Director Frances Spark sold 5,000 shares of the firm’s 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 ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Company insiders own 0.42% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On AGNC Investment

Several hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of AGNC. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its holdings in AGNC Investment by 14.1% in the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 83,316,872 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $767,348,000 after purchasing an additional 10,316,999 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its stake in shares of AGNC Investment by 18.8% in the fourth quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 14,614,721 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $134,645,000 after buying an additional 2,311,105 shares during the period. Norges Bank acquired a new stake in AGNC Investment during the fourth quarter worth approximately $87,269,000. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC increased its stake in AGNC Investment by 5.2% during the 4th quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC now owns 8,662,954 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $80,392,000 after acquiring an additional 424,990 shares during the period. Finally, Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. raised its holdings in AGNC Investment by 8.6% in the 4th quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 7,349,657 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $67,690,000 after acquiring an additional 581,352 shares in the last quarter. 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).