Vaughan Nelson Investment Management L.P. Acquires 582,360 Shares of AGNC Investment Corp. (NASDAQ:AGNC)

Vaughan Nelson Investment Management L.P. lifted its stake in shares of AGNC Investment Corp. (NASDAQ:AGNC) by 14.8% in the 1st quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 4,516,330 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock after buying an additional 582,360 shares during the period. Vaughan Nelson Investment Management L.P.’s holdings in AGNC Investment were worth $44,711,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of AGNC. MeadowBrook Investment Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in AGNC Investment in the fourth quarter worth $30,000. Bruce G. Allen Investments LLC acquired a new stake in shares of AGNC Investment in the 4th quarter valued at about $37,000. CENTRAL TRUST Co bought a new stake in AGNC Investment in the 4th quarter valued at about $46,000. Allworth Financial LP raised its stake in 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 buying an additional 2,096 shares during the period. Finally, Montag A & Associates Inc. acquired a new position in AGNC Investment during the 4th quarter worth approximately $55,000. Institutional investors own 38.28% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities research analysts have recently commented on the company. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods decreased their price objective on AGNC Investment from $10.00 to $9.50 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, April 24th. Jonestrading decreased their price target on shares of AGNC Investment from $10.75 to $10.25 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, April 23rd. JMP Securities reaffirmed a “market perform” rating on shares of AGNC Investment in a research note on Thursday, April 18th. StockNews.com raised shares of AGNC Investment from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday, March 12th. Finally, Janney Montgomery Scott started coverage on AGNC Investment in a report on Thursday, June 6th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $10.50 target price on the stock. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and five have issued a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $9.88.

Insider Buying and Selling at AGNC Investment

In related news, Director Paul E. Mullings sold 5,400 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, May 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $9.40, for a total transaction of $50,760.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 111,827 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,051,173.80. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. In related news, Director Frances Spark sold 5,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, April 24th. The stock was sold at an average price of $9.35, for a total transaction of $46,750.00. Following the transaction, the director now owns 75,545 shares in the company, valued at approximately $706,345.75. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, Director Paul E. Mullings sold 5,400 shares of the 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 completion of the sale, the director now owns 111,827 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,051,173.80. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 15,900 shares of company stock worth $149,030 over the last three months. Company insiders own 0.52% of the company’s stock.

AGNC Investment Price Performance

Shares of AGNC traded up $0.06 during midday trading on Tuesday, reaching $9.54. The stock had a trading volume of 1,230,032 shares, compared to its average volume of 11,532,037. The company has a market capitalization of $6.93 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 10.42 and a beta of 1.48. The company has a current ratio of 0.28, a quick ratio of 0.28 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.01. AGNC Investment Corp. has a 12-month low of $6.81 and a 12-month high of $10.64. The company’s 50-day moving average is $9.62 and its 200 day moving average is $9.64.

AGNC Investment (NASDAQ:AGNC) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, April 23rd. The real estate investment trust reported $0.58 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.56 by $0.02. The business had revenue of $642.00 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $568.38 million. AGNC Investment had a net margin of 32.12% and a return on equity of 27.14%. During the same period last year, the business earned $0.70 earnings per share. On average, equities analysts predict that AGNC Investment Corp. will post 2.14 EPS for the current fiscal year.

AGNC Investment Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a jun 24 dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, July 10th. Shareholders of record on Friday, June 28th will be paid a $0.12 dividend. This represents a yield of 14.8%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, June 28th. AGNC Investment’s dividend payout ratio is presently 158.24%.

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).