AGNC Investment (NASDAQ:AGNC) Trading Up 1.8% – Still a Buy?

Shares of AGNC Investment Corp. (NASDAQ:AGNC) were up 1.8% during trading on Thursday . The stock traded as high as $9.38 and last traded at $9.38. Approximately 7,467,179 shares changed hands during trading, a decline of 48% from the average daily volume of 14,317,139 shares. The stock had previously closed at $9.21.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research firms have recently weighed in on AGNC. Wells Fargo & Company raised AGNC Investment from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and boosted their target price for the company from $10.00 to $12.00 in a research note on Friday, September 20th. StockNews.com downgraded shares of AGNC Investment from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research note on Saturday, October 19th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. dropped their price target on shares of AGNC Investment from $10.00 to $9.50 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, December 9th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have assigned a hold rating and seven have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $10.44.

AGNC Investment Price Performance

The firm’s 50 day moving average is $9.55 and its 200 day moving average is $9.93. The firm has a market cap of $8.21 billion, a P/E ratio of 6.44 and a beta of 1.47. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.01, a current ratio of 0.23 and a quick ratio of 0.23.

AGNC Investment (NASDAQ:AGNC) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Monday, October 21st. The real estate investment trust reported $0.43 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.47 by ($0.04). AGNC Investment had a return on equity of 23.41% and a net margin of 42.19%. The company had revenue of $756.00 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $219.50 million. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned $0.65 EPS. As a group, analysts anticipate that AGNC Investment Corp. will post 1.94 earnings per share for the current year.

AGNC Investment Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a dec 24 dividend, which will be paid on Friday, January 10th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, December 31st will be issued a dividend of $0.12 per share. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, December 31st. This represents a dividend yield of 15.1%. AGNC Investment’s payout ratio is presently 100.00%.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On AGNC Investment

Hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. raised its holdings in AGNC Investment by 2.5% in the third 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 buying an additional 162,152 shares during the last quarter. Vaughan Nelson Investment Management L.P. lifted its position in AGNC Investment by 200.5% in the 3rd 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 in the last quarter. Barclays PLC boosted its stake in AGNC Investment by 4.8% during the 3rd quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 1,552,969 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $16,242,000 after purchasing an additional 71,330 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC increased its holdings in shares of AGNC Investment by 2.0% in 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 purchasing an additional 242,640 shares in the last quarter. Finally, US Bancorp DE increased its holdings in shares of AGNC Investment by 279.0% in the 3rd quarter. US Bancorp DE now owns 239,493 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $2,505,000 after purchasing an additional 176,301 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors 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).