AGNC Investment (NASDAQ:AGNC) Lowered to Sell at StockNews.com

StockNews.com lowered shares of AGNC Investment (NASDAQ:AGNC) from a hold rating to a sell rating in a research report sent to investors on Saturday.

Other analysts have also issued research reports about the company. Compass Point increased their target price on AGNC Investment from $10.25 to $11.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, July 24th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods increased their price objective on AGNC Investment from $10.00 to $10.25 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, July 25th. Royal Bank of Canada lifted their target price on AGNC Investment from $10.00 to $11.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, August 16th. Wells Fargo & Company raised shares of AGNC Investment from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and increased their price target for the stock from $10.00 to $12.00 in a research report on Friday, September 20th. Finally, JMP Securities reaffirmed a “market perform” rating on shares of AGNC Investment in a research report on Wednesday, August 28th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, four have issued a hold rating and seven have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $10.33.

AGNC Investment Trading Up 1.3 %

Shares of AGNC opened at $10.60 on Friday. The business’s 50-day moving average price is $10.30 and its 200 day moving average price is $9.92. The company has a current ratio of 0.27, a quick ratio of 0.27 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.01. The stock has a market capitalization of $7.71 billion, a P/E ratio of 11.65 and a beta of 1.47. AGNC Investment has a 1-year low of $6.81 and a 1-year high of $10.85.

AGNC Investment (NASDAQ:AGNC) last released its earnings results on Monday, July 22nd. The real estate investment trust reported $0.53 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.54 by ($0.01). The firm had revenue of $695.00 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $643.29 million. AGNC Investment had a return on equity of 26.21% and a net margin of 16.15%. The business’s revenue was up 52.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the business earned $0.67 earnings per share. Analysts expect that AGNC Investment will post 2.11 earnings per share for the current year.

AGNC Investment Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a oct 24 dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, November 12th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, October 31st will be issued a dividend of $0.12 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, October 31st. This represents a dividend yield of 14%. AGNC Investment’s dividend payout ratio is currently 158.24%.

Insider Activity at AGNC Investment

In other AGNC Investment news, CFO Bernice Bell sold 5,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, August 8th. The stock was sold at an average price of $10.07, for a total transaction of $50,350.00. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 298,182 shares in the company, valued at $3,002,692.74. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. 0.52% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Riverview Trust Co bought a new stake in AGNC Investment during the third quarter worth approximately $25,000. Ashton Thomas Private Wealth LLC bought a new stake in shares of AGNC Investment during the 2nd quarter worth $31,000. Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. boosted its holdings in shares of AGNC Investment by 52.2% during the 2nd quarter. Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. now owns 3,661 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $35,000 after buying an additional 1,255 shares during the period. Blue Trust Inc. grew its stake in AGNC Investment by 315.9% in the 3rd quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 3,905 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $37,000 after buying an additional 2,966 shares during the last quarter. Finally, LRI Investments LLC bought a new position in AGNC Investment in the 1st quarter worth $38,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 38.28% of the company’s stock.

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).