AGNC Investment Corp. (NASDAQ:AGNC) Announces $0.12 Feb 25 Dividend

AGNC Investment Corp. (NASDAQ:AGNC) announced a feb 25 dividend on Thursday, February 13th,RTT News reports. Investors of record on Friday, February 28th will be paid a dividend of 0.12 per share by the real estate investment trust on Tuesday, March 11th.

AGNC Investment has increased its dividend by an average of 133.1% annually over the last three years. AGNC Investment has a payout ratio of 92.9% indicating that its dividend is currently covered by earnings, but may not be in the future if the company’s earnings fall. Equities analysts expect AGNC Investment to earn $1.57 per share next year, which means the company should continue to be able to cover its $1.44 annual dividend with an expected future payout ratio of 91.7%.

AGNC Investment Stock Performance

AGNC Investment stock traded up $0.14 during trading on Thursday, hitting $10.32. The stock had a trading volume of 18,644,468 shares, compared to its average volume of 19,456,400. The stock’s 50 day moving average is $9.60 and its two-hundred day moving average is $9.89. AGNC Investment has a 1 year low of $8.92 and a 1 year high of $10.85. The stock has a market cap of $9.14 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 10.64 and a beta of 1.48. The company has a quick ratio of 0.23, a current ratio of 0.23 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.01.

AGNC Investment (NASDAQ:AGNC) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Monday, January 27th. The real estate investment trust reported $0.37 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.42 by ($0.05). AGNC Investment had a net margin of 29.26% and a return on equity of 21.92%. As a group, analysts predict that AGNC Investment will post 1.61 EPS for the current year.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities research analysts have weighed in on the company. Royal Bank of Canada restated an “outperform” rating and set a $11.00 price target on shares of AGNC Investment in a research report on Thursday, January 30th. Wells Fargo & Company lowered their price objective on shares of AGNC Investment from $12.00 to $11.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, January 30th. Argus upgraded AGNC Investment to a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday, February 4th. StockNews.com lowered AGNC Investment from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research note on Saturday, October 19th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. decreased their target price on shares of AGNC Investment from $10.00 to $9.50 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, December 9th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have issued a hold rating and seven have given a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $10.50.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, CFO Bernice Bell sold 13,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, January 30th. The shares were 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 of the company’s stock, valued at $3,737,149.04. This trade represents a 3.37 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, Director Frances Spark sold 5,000 shares of AGNC Investment stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 sale, the director now owns 75,919 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $766,781.90. This represents a 6.18 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.52% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

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).