AGNC Investment (NASDAQ:AGNC) Shares Down 1.4% – Should You Sell?

AGNC Investment Corp. (NASDAQ:AGNC)’s share price dropped 1.4% during mid-day trading on Monday . The company traded as low as $8.98 and last traded at $9.01. Approximately 8,299,612 shares traded hands during trading, a decline of 51% from the average daily volume of 17,111,191 shares. The stock had previously closed at $9.14.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities research analysts have commented on the stock. Wells Fargo & Company upgraded shares of AGNC Investment from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and raised their price target for the stock from $10.00 to $12.00 in a report on Friday, September 20th. StockNews.com lowered AGNC Investment from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research report on Saturday, October 19th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. dropped their price target on AGNC Investment from $10.00 to $9.50 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, December 9th. One research 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.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $10.44.

AGNC Investment Price Performance

The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.01, a quick ratio of 0.23 and a current ratio of 0.23. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $9.50 and a 200-day simple moving average of $9.91. The firm has a market cap of $8.06 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 6.32 and a beta of 1.47.

AGNC Investment (NASDAQ:AGNC) last announced its earnings results on Monday, October 21st. The real estate investment trust reported $0.43 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.47 by ($0.04). The company had revenue of $756.00 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $219.50 million. AGNC Investment had a net margin of 42.19% and a return on equity of 23.41%. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $0.65 EPS. Equities research analysts expect that AGNC Investment Corp. will post 1.94 earnings per share 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. Stockholders of record on Friday, January 31st will be issued a $0.12 dividend. 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 currently 100.00%.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Large investors have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Vaughan Nelson Investment Management L.P. increased its stake 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 buying an additional 9,639,675 shares during the last quarter. Natixis Advisors LLC increased its stake in shares of AGNC Investment by 314.8% during the 3rd quarter. Natixis Advisors LLC now owns 3,842,814 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $40,196,000 after purchasing an additional 2,916,345 shares during the last quarter. ORG Wealth Partners LLC purchased a new position 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 grew its holdings 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 valued at $20,007,000 after purchasing an additional 1,023,275 shares during the period. Finally, International Assets Investment Management LLC increased its position in AGNC Investment by 945.2% in 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 buying an additional 969,475 shares during the last quarter. 38.28% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

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).