AGNC Investment (NASDAQ:AGNC) Trading 1.8% Higher – Here’s What Happened

AGNC Investment Corp. (NASDAQ:AGNC) shot up 1.8% during mid-day trading on Thursday . The stock traded as high as $10.05 and last traded at $10.01. 10,420,001 shares traded hands during trading, a decline of 43% from the average session volume of 18,138,916 shares. The stock had previously closed at $9.83.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

AGNC has been the topic of a number of analyst reports. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods lowered their price objective on AGNC Investment from $10.75 to $10.25 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday. StockNews.com downgraded AGNC Investment from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research note on Saturday, October 19th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut their price objective on AGNC Investment from $10.00 to $9.50 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, December 9th. JMP Securities restated a “market perform” rating on shares of AGNC Investment in a research report on Thursday, January 23rd. 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. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have issued a hold rating and seven have issued a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $10.64.

AGNC Investment Trading Up 2.5 %

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 has a 50 day moving average of $9.52 and a 200-day moving average of $9.89. The stock has a market cap of $8.93 billion, a PE ratio of 7.00 and a beta of 1.47.

AGNC Investment (NASDAQ:AGNC) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Monday, January 27th. The real estate investment trust reported $0.37 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.42 by ($0.05). AGNC Investment had a net margin of 42.19% and a return on equity of 23.41%. On average, analysts anticipate that AGNC Investment Corp. will post 1.95 EPS for the current year.

AGNC Investment Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a jan 25 dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, February 11th. Investors of record on Friday, January 31st will be given a dividend of $0.12 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, January 31st. This represents a yield of 15.5%. AGNC Investment’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 100.00%.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Large investors have recently made changes to their positions in the business. Vaughan Nelson Investment Management L.P. lifted its position in 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 buying an additional 9,639,675 shares during the period. Natixis Advisors LLC boosted its position in shares of AGNC Investment by 314.8% in the third quarter. Natixis Advisors LLC now owns 3,842,814 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $40,196,000 after acquiring an additional 2,916,345 shares during the last quarter. ORG Wealth Partners LLC purchased a new stake in AGNC Investment in the third quarter valued at 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 purchasing an additional 1,023,275 shares during the last quarter. Finally, International Assets Investment Management LLC raised its stake in AGNC Investment by 945.2% during the third quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 1,072,039 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $102,489,000 after purchasing an additional 969,475 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 38.28% of the company’s stock.

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).