Swiss National Bank Grows Stake in AGNC Investment Corp. (NASDAQ:AGNC)

Swiss National Bank increased its holdings in shares of AGNC Investment Corp. (NASDAQ:AGNC) by 7.1% in the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The firm owned 1,538,900 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock after acquiring an additional 102,400 shares during the quarter. Swiss National Bank’s holdings in AGNC Investment were worth $14,173,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in AGNC. Avantax Advisory Services Inc. grew its holdings in shares of AGNC Investment by 27.3% during the fourth quarter. Avantax Advisory Services Inc. now owns 73,898 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $681,000 after purchasing an additional 15,850 shares during the last quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC boosted its position in shares of AGNC Investment by 21.7% in the 4th quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 9,949 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $92,000 after purchasing an additional 1,776 shares during the period. HighTower Advisors LLC grew its stake in AGNC Investment by 9.1% during the 4th quarter. HighTower Advisors LLC now owns 102,955 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $948,000 after buying an additional 8,597 shares during the last quarter. Independent Advisor Alliance increased its position in AGNC Investment by 94.5% during the fourth quarter. Independent Advisor Alliance now owns 25,530 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $235,000 after buying an additional 12,404 shares during the period. Finally, Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank lifted its stake in AGNC Investment by 27.9% in the fourth quarter. Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank now owns 195,018 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $1,796,000 after buying an additional 42,559 shares during the last quarter. 38.28% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research firms recently commented on AGNC. Argus upgraded shares of AGNC Investment to a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday, February 4th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods reduced their target price on shares of AGNC Investment from $10.75 to $10.25 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, January 29th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. decreased their target price 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. StockNews.com raised AGNC Investment from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday, February 25th. Finally, JMP Securities reaffirmed a “market perform” rating on shares of AGNC Investment in a research report on Thursday, January 23rd. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, AGNC Investment currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $10.50.

AGNC Investment Stock Performance

NASDAQ AGNC opened at $10.36 on Thursday. The company has a current ratio of 0.23, a quick ratio of 0.23 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.01. The business’s 50 day moving average is $10.05 and its two-hundred day moving average is $9.93. The stock has a market capitalization of $9.48 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 10.68 and a beta of 1.50. AGNC Investment Corp. has a 12-month low of $8.92 and a 12-month high of $10.85.

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

AGNC Investment Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a mar 25 dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, April 9th. Investors of record on Monday, March 31st will be paid a $0.12 dividend. This represents a dividend yield of 14.1%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, March 31st. AGNC Investment’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 148.45%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, Director Frances Spark sold 5,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, February 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $10.10, for a total value of $50,500.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 75,919 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $766,781.90. This trade represents a 6.18 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, CFO Bernice Bell sold 13,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, January 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $10.04, for a total value of $130,520.00. Following the sale, the chief financial officer now owns 372,226 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,737,149.04. The trade was a 3.37 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.52% of the stock is owned by insiders.

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).