AGNC Investment (NASDAQ:AGNC) Shares Up 1.1% – What’s Next?

AGNC Investment Corp. (NASDAQ:AGNC) rose 1.1% during mid-day trading on Thursday . The stock traded as high as $9.87 and last traded at $9.87. Approximately 5,629,858 shares changed hands during trading, a decline of 66% from the average daily volume of 16,362,967 shares. The stock had previously closed at $9.76.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

AGNC has been the topic of several analyst reports. Argus raised AGNC Investment to a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday, February 4th. Wells Fargo & Company decreased their price target on AGNC Investment from $12.00 to $11.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, January 30th. StockNews.com raised shares of AGNC Investment from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday, February 25th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reduced their target price on shares of AGNC Investment from $10.00 to $9.50 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, December 9th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and set a $11.00 price target on shares of AGNC Investment in a research note on Thursday, January 30th. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $10.50.

AGNC Investment Price Performance

The firm has a 50-day simple moving average of $10.14 and a 200-day simple moving average of $9.92. The firm has a market cap of $8.96 billion, a P/E ratio of 10.09 and a beta of 1.50. 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, January 27th. The real estate investment trust reported $0.37 earnings per share (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, analysts forecast that AGNC Investment Corp. will post 1.61 EPS for the current year.

AGNC Investment Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a mar 25 dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, April 9th. Stockholders of record on Monday, March 31st will be given a dividend of $0.12 per share. This represents a dividend yield of 14.1%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, March 31st. AGNC Investment’s payout ratio is presently 148.45%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other AGNC Investment news, CFO Bernice Bell sold 13,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, January 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $10.04, for a total transaction of $130,520.00. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer now owns 372,226 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,737,149.04. This represents a 3.37 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, Director Frances Spark sold 5,000 shares of AGNC Investment stock in a transaction on Wednesday, February 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $10.10, for a total transaction of $50,500.00. Following the sale, the director now owns 75,919 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $766,781.90. The trade was a 6.18 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.42% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the company. California State Teachers Retirement System boosted its holdings in AGNC Investment by 5.4% in the fourth quarter. California State Teachers Retirement System now owns 734,414 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $6,764,000 after purchasing an additional 37,683 shares during the last quarter. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC boosted its holdings in AGNC Investment by 96.4% during the fourth quarter. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC now owns 110,113 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $1,014,000 after buying an additional 54,049 shares in the last quarter. Jefferies Financial Group Inc. grew its position in AGNC Investment by 19.6% during the fourth quarter. Jefferies Financial Group Inc. now owns 49,433 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $455,000 after buying an additional 8,103 shares during the period. AlphaCore Capital LLC increased its holdings in AGNC Investment by 176.2% in the fourth quarter. AlphaCore Capital LLC now owns 69,946 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $653,000 after buying an additional 44,624 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Kingstone Capital Partners Texas LLC acquired a new position in shares of AGNC Investment in the fourth quarter worth about $169,000. 38.28% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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).