AGNC Investment (NASDAQ:AGNC) Shares Up 1.1% – Should You Buy?

AGNC Investment Corp. (NASDAQ:AGNC)’s share price was up 1.1% during mid-day trading on Friday . The company traded as high as $9.40 and last traded at $9.38. Approximately 4,972,810 shares traded hands during trading, a decline of 58% from the average daily volume of 11,762,094 shares. The stock had previously closed at $9.28.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

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

AGNC Investment Price Performance

The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $9.52 and a 200-day simple moving average of $9.93. The company has a market capitalization of $8.36 billion, a PE ratio of 6.56 and a beta of 1.47. The company has a current ratio of 0.23, a quick ratio of 0.23 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.01.

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 the consensus estimate of $0.47 by ($0.04). The business had revenue of $756.00 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $219.50 million. AGNC Investment had a return on equity of 23.41% and a net margin of 42.19%. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $0.65 EPS. Equities analysts anticipate that AGNC Investment Corp. will post 1.94 earnings per share for the current year.

AGNC Investment Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a dec 24 dividend, which will be paid on Friday, January 10th. Investors of record on Tuesday, December 31st will be given a $0.12 dividend. This represents a dividend yield of 15.1%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, December 31st. AGNC Investment’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 100.00%.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On AGNC Investment

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Vaughan Nelson Investment Management L.P. grew its holdings in shares of AGNC Investment by 200.5% during the third 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 last quarter. Natixis Advisors LLC grew its stake in AGNC Investment by 314.8% during the 3rd quarter. Natixis Advisors LLC now owns 3,842,814 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $40,196,000 after buying an additional 2,916,345 shares during the last quarter. ORG Wealth Partners LLC acquired a new position in AGNC Investment during the third quarter worth approximately $17,463,000. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC increased its position in AGNC Investment by 115.0% during the third quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC now owns 1,912,694 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $20,007,000 after buying an additional 1,023,275 shares during the period. Finally, International Assets Investment Management LLC lifted its stake in AGNC Investment by 945.2% in the third quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 1,072,039 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $102,489,000 after buying an additional 969,475 shares during the last quarter. 38.28% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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).