AGNC Investment (NASDAQ:AGNC) Trading Up 0.2% – Here’s Why

AGNC Investment Corp. (NASDAQ:AGNC)’s stock price rose 0.2% during trading on Wednesday . The stock traded as high as $9.47 and last traded at $9.47. Approximately 10,784,664 shares traded hands during mid-day trading, a decline of 24% from the average daily volume of 14,222,621 shares. The stock had previously closed at $9.45.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research firms have recently commented on AGNC. JPMorgan Chase & Co. decreased their price objective on AGNC Investment from $10.00 to $9.50 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, December 9th. Wells Fargo & Company upgraded shares of AGNC Investment from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and upped their target price for the stock from $10.00 to $12.00 in a research report on Friday, September 20th. JMP Securities reissued a “market perform” rating on shares of AGNC Investment in a report on Wednesday, August 28th. Finally, StockNews.com lowered AGNC Investment from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research note on Saturday, October 19th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have given a hold rating and seven have issued a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $10.44.

AGNC Investment Price Performance

The firm has a market cap of $8.39 billion, a PE ratio of 6.58 and a beta of 1.47. The stock has a 50 day simple moving average of $9.67 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $9.95. 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 (NASDAQ:AGNC) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Monday, October 21st. The real estate investment trust reported $0.43 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.47 by ($0.04). The company had revenue of $756.00 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $219.50 million. AGNC Investment had a net margin of 42.19% and a return on equity of 23.41%. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $0.65 earnings per share. Sell-side analysts expect that AGNC Investment Corp. will post 1.94 earnings per share for the current year.

AGNC Investment Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a dec 24 dividend, which will be paid on Friday, January 10th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, December 31st will be paid a dividend of $0.12 per share. This represents a dividend yield of 15.1%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, December 31st. AGNC Investment’s payout ratio is currently 100.00%.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On AGNC Investment

A number of large investors have recently bought and sold shares of AGNC. CIBC Asset Management Inc lifted its holdings in AGNC Investment by 5.4% in the 2nd quarter. CIBC Asset Management Inc now owns 19,712 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $188,000 after purchasing an additional 1,012 shares in the last quarter. Paragon Capital Management Ltd raised its holdings in AGNC Investment by 3.6% in the 3rd quarter. Paragon Capital Management Ltd now owns 30,717 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $321,000 after buying an additional 1,071 shares during the period. Garden State Investment Advisory Services LLC increased its position in shares of AGNC Investment by 10.0% during the third quarter. Garden State Investment Advisory Services LLC now owns 12,947 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $135,000 after acquiring an additional 1,176 shares during the last quarter. Oak Thistle LLC boosted its position in shares of AGNC Investment by 4.9% during the 2nd quarter. Oak Thistle LLC now owns 26,815 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $256,000 after purchasing an additional 1,251 shares during the period. Finally, Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. raised its position in AGNC Investment by 52.2% in the second quarter. Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. now owns 3,661 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $35,000 after purchasing an additional 1,255 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 38.28% of the company’s stock.

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).