AGNC Investment Target of Unusually High Options Trading (NASDAQ:AGNC)

AGNC Investment Corp. (NASDAQ:AGNC) was the target of unusually large options trading activity on Monday. Stock investors bought 61,454 put options on the company. This is an increase of 68% compared to the typical volume of 36,588 put options.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

AGNC has been the subject of a number of recent research reports. Wells Fargo & Company reduced their price target on shares of AGNC Investment from $12.00 to $11.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, January 30th. Royal Bank of Canada reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and set a $11.00 target price on shares of AGNC Investment in a report on Thursday, January 30th. Argus raised AGNC Investment to a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday, February 4th. JMP Securities reaffirmed a “market perform” rating on shares of AGNC Investment in a research note on Thursday, January 23rd. Finally, StockNews.com upgraded shares of AGNC Investment from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday, February 25th. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $10.50.

AGNC Investment Stock Up 0.6 %

Shares of AGNC traded up $0.07 during mid-day trading on Monday, reaching $10.31. 11,820,377 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 15,998,215. AGNC Investment has a 12-month low of $8.92 and a 12-month high of $10.85. The company has a quick ratio of 0.23, a current ratio of 0.23 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.01. The firm has a market cap of $9.43 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 10.62 and a beta of 1.50. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $9.99 and a 200 day simple moving average of $9.92.

AGNC Investment (NASDAQ:AGNC) last released its quarterly 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%. Sell-side analysts expect that AGNC Investment will post 1.61 EPS for the current fiscal 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 dividend of $0.12 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, March 31st. This represents a yield of 14.1%. AGNC Investment’s payout ratio is currently 148.45%.

Insider Transactions at AGNC Investment

In other news, CFO Bernice Bell sold 13,000 shares of the 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 directly 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 transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, Director Frances Spark sold 5,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, February 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $10.10, for a total value of $50,500.00. Following the sale, the director now directly owns 75,919 shares in the company, valued at approximately $766,781.90. The trade was a 6.18 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Company insiders own 0.52% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On AGNC Investment

Several large investors have recently made changes to their positions in AGNC. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. increased its stake in AGNC Investment by 2.5% during the 3rd quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 6,768,305 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $70,796,000 after buying an additional 162,152 shares during the period. Vaughan Nelson Investment Management L.P. increased its stake in shares of 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 valued at $151,113,000 after acquiring an additional 9,639,675 shares during the period. Barclays PLC raised its holdings in AGNC Investment by 4.8% during the third quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 1,552,969 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $16,242,000 after purchasing an additional 71,330 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its stake in 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 valued at $128,730,000 after purchasing an additional 242,640 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Howard Financial Services LTD. increased 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 purchasing an additional 35,598 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 38.28% of the company’s stock.

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).