AGNC Investment (NASDAQ:AGNC) Trading 0.2% Higher – Here’s What Happened

AGNC Investment Corp. (NASDAQ:AGNC)’s share price shot up 0.2% during trading on Thursday . The company traded as high as $10.17 and last traded at $10.14. 4,082,421 shares traded hands during trading, a decline of 79% from the average session volume of 19,378,740 shares. The stock had previously closed at $10.11.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several analysts have recently commented on the stock. Argus upgraded shares of AGNC Investment to a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered their price objective on AGNC Investment from $10.00 to $9.50 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, December 9th. StockNews.com downgraded AGNC Investment from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research note on Saturday, October 19th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods decreased their price target on AGNC Investment from $10.75 to $10.25 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, January 29th. Finally, JMP Securities reiterated a “market perform” rating on shares of AGNC Investment in a research report on Thursday, January 23rd. One 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. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $10.50.

AGNC Investment Stock Down 0.7 %

The firm has a market capitalization of $8.92 billion, a PE ratio of 10.38 and a beta of 1.48. The firm’s 50-day moving average is $9.56 and its 200 day moving average is $9.88. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.01, a quick ratio of 0.23 and a current ratio of 0.23.

AGNC Investment (NASDAQ:AGNC) last released its quarterly earnings results on Monday, January 27th. The real estate investment trust reported $0.37 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, research analysts forecast that AGNC Investment Corp. will post 1.61 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

AGNC Investment Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a jan 25 dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, February 11th. Investors of record on Friday, January 31st will be paid a dividend of $0.12 per share. This represents a dividend yield of 15.5%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, January 31st. AGNC Investment’s payout ratio is currently 148.46%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, CFO Bernice Bell sold 13,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on 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 transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, Director Frances Spark sold 5,000 shares of AGNC Investment stock in a transaction on Wednesday, February 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $10.10, for a total value of $50,500.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 75,919 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $766,781.90. This represents a 6.18 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.52% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On AGNC Investment

Hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of AGNC Investment by 2.5% in the 3rd 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 purchasing an additional 162,152 shares during the last quarter. Vaughan Nelson Investment Management L.P. boosted its holdings in AGNC Investment by 200.5% in the third quarter. Vaughan Nelson Investment Management L.P. now owns 14,446,725 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $151,113,000 after acquiring an additional 9,639,675 shares during the last quarter. Barclays PLC grew its position in AGNC Investment by 4.8% during the third quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 1,552,969 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $16,242,000 after acquiring an additional 71,330 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC raised its holdings 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 worth $128,730,000 after purchasing an additional 242,640 shares during the period. Finally, Howard Financial Services LTD. lifted its stake in shares of AGNC Investment by 195.2% in the 4th quarter. Howard Financial Services LTD. now owns 53,834 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $496,000 after purchasing an additional 35,598 shares in the last quarter. 38.28% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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).