AGNC Investment (NASDAQ:AGNC) Trading Up 1.1% – Still a Buy?

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

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research firms have weighed in on AGNC. Argus upgraded AGNC Investment to a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday, February 4th. Royal Bank of Canada restated an “outperform” rating and issued a $11.00 target price on shares of AGNC Investment in a research report on Thursday, January 30th. JMP Securities reiterated a “market perform” rating on shares of AGNC Investment in a research report on Thursday, January 23rd. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered their price objective on shares of AGNC Investment from $10.00 to $9.50 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Monday, December 9th. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods reduced their target price on shares of AGNC Investment from $10.75 to $10.25 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, January 29th. Four analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $10.50.

AGNC Investment Price Performance

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 company has a market cap of $8.72 billion, a PE ratio of 9.81 and a beta of 1.50. The firm has a 50 day moving average of $10.14 and a two-hundred day moving average of $9.92.

AGNC Investment (NASDAQ:AGNC) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Monday, January 27th. The real estate investment trust reported $0.37 earnings per share 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%. Research analysts predict that AGNC Investment Corp. will post 1.61 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

AGNC Investment Dividend Announcement

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

Insider Activity

In related 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 sale, the chief financial officer now owns 372,226 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,737,149.04. This trade represents a 3.37 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. 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 the business’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, February 5th. The shares were 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 approximately $766,781.90. This represents a 6.18 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Corporate insiders own 0.42% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. lifted its stake in shares of AGNC Investment by 2.5% in the 3rd quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 6,768,305 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $70,796,000 after purchasing an additional 162,152 shares during the period. Barclays PLC raised its position in AGNC Investment by 4.8% in the third quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 1,552,969 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $16,242,000 after acquiring an additional 71,330 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its stake in shares of AGNC Investment by 2.0% during the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 12,303,616 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $128,730,000 after acquiring an additional 242,640 shares during the last quarter. Howard Financial Services LTD. grew its position in shares of AGNC Investment by 195.2% during the 4th quarter. Howard Financial Services LTD. now owns 53,834 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $496,000 after acquiring an additional 35,598 shares during the period. Finally, Franklin Resources Inc. increased its stake in shares of AGNC Investment by 35.8% in the 3rd quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 584,370 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $6,060,000 after purchasing an additional 154,029 shares in 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).