AGNC Investment (NASDAQ:AGNC) Trading 0.4% Higher – Here’s What Happened

AGNC Investment Corp. (NASDAQ:AGNC) shot up 0.4% during mid-day trading on Friday . The stock traded as high as $10.62 and last traded at $10.58. 6,011,965 shares changed hands during trading, a decline of 68% from the average session volume of 18,810,559 shares. The stock had previously closed at $10.53.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

AGNC has been the topic of a number of research reports. JMP Securities reissued a “market perform” rating on shares of AGNC Investment in a research note on Thursday, January 23rd. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods reduced their price objective on AGNC Investment from $10.75 to $10.25 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, January 29th. Argus upgraded AGNC Investment to a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday, February 4th. Royal Bank of Canada reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and issued a $11.00 target price on shares of AGNC Investment in a research note on Thursday, January 30th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered their price target on shares of AGNC Investment from $10.00 to $9.50 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, December 9th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have issued a hold rating and seven have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $10.50.

AGNC Investment Stock Up 0.1 %

The business has a 50-day moving average of $9.72 and a 200-day moving average of $9.91. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.01, a quick ratio of 0.23 and a current ratio of 0.23. The stock has a market capitalization of $9.33 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 10.87 and a beta of 1.48.

AGNC Investment (NASDAQ:AGNC) last announced its quarterly 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%. On average, sell-side analysts expect that AGNC Investment Corp. will post 1.61 EPS for the current year.

AGNC Investment Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared 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 of this dividend is Friday, February 28th. AGNC Investment’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 148.46%.

Insider Activity

In related news, Director Frances Spark sold 5,000 shares of the firm’s 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 completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 75,919 shares in the company, valued at $766,781.90. This trade represents a 6.18 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, CFO Bernice Bell sold 13,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, January 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $10.04, for a total transaction of $130,520.00. Following the sale, the chief financial officer now owns 372,226 shares in the company, valued at $3,737,149.04. This trade represents a 3.37 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders own 0.52% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On AGNC Investment

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in AGNC. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. raised its stake in shares of AGNC Investment by 2.5% in the third quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 6,768,305 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $70,796,000 after acquiring an additional 162,152 shares in the last quarter. Vaughan Nelson Investment Management L.P. increased its holdings in AGNC Investment by 200.5% during the 3rd quarter. Vaughan Nelson Investment Management L.P. now owns 14,446,725 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $151,113,000 after purchasing an additional 9,639,675 shares during the period. Barclays PLC raised its position in AGNC Investment by 4.8% in the 3rd quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 1,552,969 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $16,242,000 after purchasing an additional 71,330 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its stake in shares of AGNC Investment by 2.0% in the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 12,303,616 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $128,730,000 after buying an additional 242,640 shares during the period. Finally, Howard Financial Services LTD. grew its position in shares of AGNC Investment by 195.2% during the fourth quarter. Howard Financial Services LTD. now owns 53,834 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $496,000 after buying an additional 35,598 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors 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).