AGNC Investment (NASDAQ:AGNC) Shares Up 1.8% – What’s Next?

AGNC Investment Corp. (NASDAQ:AGNC) traded up 1.8% during mid-day trading on Thursday . The company traded as high as $9.38 and last traded at $9.38. 7,467,179 shares traded hands during mid-day trading, a decline of 48% from the average session volume of 14,317,139 shares. The stock had previously closed at $9.21.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

AGNC has been the topic of a number of analyst reports. Wells Fargo & Company upgraded shares of AGNC Investment from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and lifted their target price for the company from $10.00 to $12.00 in a research note on Friday, September 20th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. dropped their price objective on AGNC Investment from $10.00 to $9.50 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, December 9th. Finally, StockNews.com cut AGNC Investment from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research report on Saturday, October 19th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have issued a hold rating and seven have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, AGNC Investment has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $10.44.

AGNC Investment Price Performance

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 firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $9.52 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $9.93. The firm has a market cap of $8.36 billion, a PE ratio of 6.56 and a beta of 1.47.

AGNC Investment (NASDAQ:AGNC) last posted its earnings results on Monday, October 21st. The real estate investment trust reported $0.43 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.47 by ($0.04). The business had revenue of $756.00 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations 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 last year, the business posted $0.65 earnings per share. Equities analysts predict that AGNC Investment Corp. will post 1.94 EPS for the current fiscal year.

AGNC Investment Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a dec 24 dividend, which will be paid on Friday, January 10th. Investors of record on Tuesday, December 31st will be issued a $0.12 dividend. 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 100.00%.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On AGNC Investment

Several large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in AGNC. Vaughan Nelson Investment Management L.P. boosted its holdings in shares of AGNC Investment by 200.5% in 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. Geode Capital Management LLC grew its position in 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 acquiring an additional 242,640 shares during the last quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC grew its position in AGNC Investment by 2.4% in the 3rd quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC now owns 8,237,964 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $86,169,000 after acquiring an additional 189,444 shares during the last quarter. Equity Investment Corp increased its stake in AGNC Investment by 2.1% in the third quarter. Equity Investment Corp now owns 7,274,167 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $76,088,000 after purchasing an additional 149,775 shares during the period. Finally, Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. lifted its position in shares of AGNC Investment by 2.5% during the third quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 6,768,305 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $70,796,000 after purchasing an additional 162,152 shares during the last quarter. 38.28% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

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).