AGNC Investment (NASDAQ:AGNC) Downgraded to “Hold” at Maxim Group

Maxim Group downgraded shares of AGNC Investment (NASDAQ:AGNC) from a buy rating to a hold rating in a research note issued to investors on Wednesday morning, Marketbeat reports.

Other equities analysts have also recently issued research reports about the company. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their price target on AGNC Investment from $9.50 to $10.00 and gave the company an overweight rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 16th. JMP Securities restated a market perform rating on shares of AGNC Investment in a research report on Thursday, April 18th. Jonestrading dropped their price target on AGNC Investment from $10.75 to $10.25 and set a buy rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, April 23rd. Janney Montgomery Scott initiated coverage on AGNC Investment in a research report on Thursday, June 6th. They set a buy rating and a $10.50 target price on the stock. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods boosted their target price on AGNC Investment from $9.50 to $10.00 and gave the stock an outperform rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 10th. Five research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have given a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of Moderate Buy and a consensus target price of $10.00.

AGNC Investment Stock Up 1.8 %

AGNC opened at $10.05 on Wednesday. The stock has a market capitalization of $7.31 billion, a P/E ratio of 11.04 and a beta of 1.48. AGNC Investment has a one year low of $6.81 and a one year high of $10.64. The business’s 50-day simple moving average is $9.83 and its 200-day simple moving average is $9.67. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.01, a quick ratio of 0.28 and a current ratio of 0.28.

AGNC Investment (NASDAQ:AGNC) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Monday, July 22nd. The real estate investment trust reported $0.53 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.54 by ($0.01). The company had revenue of $695.00 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $643.29 million. AGNC Investment had a net margin of 16.15% and a return on equity of 26.78%. The business’s revenue was up 52.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $0.67 EPS. Analysts anticipate that AGNC Investment will post 2.11 EPS for the current year.

AGNC Investment Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a jul 24 dividend, which will be paid on Friday, August 9th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, July 31st will be paid a dividend of $0.12 per share. This represents a dividend yield of 13.8%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, July 31st. AGNC Investment’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 158.24%.

Insider Transactions at AGNC Investment

In other news, CFO Bernice Bell sold 3,500 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, May 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $9.32, for a total transaction of $32,620.00. Following the sale, the chief financial officer now owns 309,973 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,888,948.36. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. In related news, Director Paul E. Mullings sold 5,400 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, May 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $9.40, for a total value of $50,760.00. Following the sale, the director now owns 111,827 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,051,173.80. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, CFO Bernice Bell sold 3,500 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, May 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $9.32, for a total value of $32,620.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 309,973 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,888,948.36. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 10,900 shares of company stock valued at $102,280 in the last quarter. 0.52% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of large investors have recently made changes to their positions in AGNC. MeadowBrook Investment Advisors LLC purchased a new position in shares of AGNC Investment during the 4th quarter worth $30,000. LRI Investments LLC purchased a new position in shares of AGNC Investment during the 1st quarter worth $38,000. Verity & Verity LLC purchased a new position in shares of AGNC Investment during the 1st quarter worth $45,000. CENTRAL TRUST Co purchased a new position in shares of AGNC Investment during the 4th quarter worth $46,000. Finally, Allworth Financial LP lifted its stake in shares of AGNC Investment by 76.5% during the 4th quarter. Allworth Financial LP now owns 4,836 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $47,000 after purchasing an additional 2,096 shares during the period. 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).