AGNC Investment (NASDAQ:AGNC) Trading Up 0.2% – Still a Buy?

AGNC Investment Corp. (NASDAQ:AGNC)’s stock price traded up 0.2% during mid-day trading on Wednesday . The stock traded as high as $10.12 and last traded at $10.10. 6,614,393 shares were traded during mid-day trading, a decline of 66% from the average session volume of 19,442,307 shares. The stock had previously closed at $10.07.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research analysts have recently issued reports on the company. JMP Securities reissued a “market perform” rating on shares of AGNC Investment in a research report on Thursday, January 23rd. Argus upgraded AGNC Investment to a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday. StockNews.com downgraded AGNC Investment from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research note on Saturday, October 19th. Royal Bank of Canada reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and set a $11.00 price objective on shares of AGNC Investment in a research report on Thursday, January 30th. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods lowered their target price on shares of AGNC Investment from $10.75 to $10.25 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, January 29th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have issued a hold rating and seven have given a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, AGNC Investment presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $10.50.

AGNC Investment Stock Performance

The company has a market cap of $8.92 billion, a P/E ratio of 10.38 and a beta of 1.48. The firm has a 50 day moving average of $9.56 and a 200-day moving average of $9.88. The company has a quick ratio of 0.23, a current 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 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%. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that AGNC Investment Corp. will post 1.61 EPS for the current fiscal year.

AGNC Investment Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a jan 25 dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, February 11th. Stockholders of record on Friday, January 31st will be issued a dividend of $0.12 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, January 31st. This represents a dividend yield of 15.5%. AGNC Investment’s dividend payout ratio is presently 148.46%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other AGNC Investment news, CFO Bernice Bell sold 13,000 shares of the firm’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 value of $130,520.00. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 372,226 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,737,149.04. This trade represents a 3.37 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, 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 transaction of $50,500.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 75,919 shares in the company, valued at $766,781.90. This trade represents a 6.18 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.43% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Institutional Trading of AGNC Investment

Institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Riverview Trust Co acquired a new position in shares of AGNC Investment during the third quarter worth $25,000. Financial Life Planners purchased a new stake in shares of AGNC Investment in the fourth quarter valued at about $28,000. Point72 Asset Management L.P. purchased a new stake in shares of AGNC Investment in the third quarter valued at about $32,000. Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. raised its holdings in AGNC Investment by 52.2% during the second quarter. Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. now owns 3,661 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $35,000 after purchasing an additional 1,255 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Blue Trust Inc. raised its holdings in AGNC Investment by 315.9% during the third quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 3,905 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $37,000 after purchasing an additional 2,966 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds 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).