AGNC Investment (NASDAQ:AGNC) Trading 3.4% Higher on Strong Earnings

AGNC Investment Corp. (NASDAQ:AGNC)’s stock price shot up 3.4% on Tuesday after the company announced better than expected quarterly earnings. The company traded as high as $8.47 and last traded at $8.44. 12,108,080 shares changed hands during trading, a decline of 35% from the average session volume of 18,761,750 shares. The stock had previously closed at $8.16.

The real estate investment trust reported $0.44 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.41 by $0.03. AGNC Investment had a return on equity of 21.92% and a net margin of 29.26%. The firm had revenue of $846.00 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $436.71 million. During the same period last year, the company earned $0.58 EPS.

AGNC Investment Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a apr 25 dividend, which will be paid on Friday, May 9th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, April 30th will be issued a dividend of $0.12 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, April 30th. This represents a dividend yield of 17.7%. AGNC Investment’s dividend payout ratio is presently 148.45%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research analysts have issued reports on AGNC shares. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods cut their price target on shares of AGNC Investment from $10.75 to $10.25 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, January 29th. Argus upgraded shares of AGNC Investment to a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday, February 4th. Royal Bank of Canada restated an “outperform” rating and issued a $11.00 price target on shares of AGNC Investment in a research note on Thursday, January 30th. Wells Fargo & Company cut their price objective on AGNC Investment from $12.00 to $11.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, January 30th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. dropped their price target on shares of AGNC Investment from $9.50 to $8.50 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, April 16th. Four analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have given a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $10.36.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other AGNC Investment news, CFO Bernice Bell sold 13,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, January 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $10.04, for a total value of $130,520.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer now owns 372,226 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,737,149.04. This trade represents a 3.37 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, Director Frances Spark sold 5,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, February 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $10.10, for a total transaction of $50,500.00. Following 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. 0.42% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in AGNC. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its position in shares of 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 worth $767,348,000 after buying an additional 10,316,999 shares during the last quarter. Vaughan Nelson Investment Management L.P. boosted its position in AGNC Investment by 18.0% during the 1st quarter. Vaughan Nelson Investment Management L.P. now owns 16,996,741 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $162,828,000 after purchasing an additional 2,589,020 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its holdings in shares of AGNC Investment by 18.8% during 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 acquiring an additional 2,311,105 shares during the period. Norges Bank acquired a new position in AGNC Investment in the fourth quarter worth approximately $87,269,000. Finally, Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC lifted its position in shares of 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 valued at $80,392,000 after acquiring an additional 424,990 shares during the last quarter. 38.28% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

AGNC Investment Stock Up 3.4 %

The firm has a market capitalization of $7.72 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 8.70 and a beta of 1.32. 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 stock has a fifty day moving average of $9.70 and a 200-day moving average of $9.70.

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).