Stock Traders Buy High Volume of Put Options on AGNC Investment (NASDAQ:AGNC)

AGNC Investment Corp. (NASDAQ:AGNC) was the recipient of unusually large options trading activity on Thursday. Investors bought 52,294 put options on the company. This represents an increase of 38% compared to the typical volume of 37,759 put options.

Institutional Trading of AGNC Investment

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in AGNC. Riverview Trust Co bought a new position in shares of AGNC Investment in the 3rd quarter valued at about $25,000. Financial Life Planners acquired a new stake in AGNC Investment during the fourth quarter worth approximately $28,000. Point72 Asset Management L.P. acquired a new stake in AGNC Investment during the third quarter worth approximately $32,000. Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. raised its position in shares of AGNC Investment by 52.2% in the second quarter. Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. now owns 3,661 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $35,000 after buying an additional 1,255 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Blue Trust Inc. raised its position in shares of AGNC Investment by 315.9% in the third quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 3,905 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $37,000 after buying an additional 2,966 shares in the last quarter. 38.28% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

AGNC Investment Stock Up 2.6 %

Shares of NASDAQ:AGNC traded up $0.26 during midday trading on Thursday, hitting $10.09. 18,644,814 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 18,595,537. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.01, a quick ratio of 0.23 and a current ratio of 0.23. AGNC Investment has a 52-week low of $8.92 and a 52-week high of $10.85. The business’s fifty day simple moving average is $9.52 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $9.89. The company has a market capitalization of $8.93 billion, a PE ratio of 7.00 and a beta of 1.47.

AGNC Investment (NASDAQ:AGNC) last posted its quarterly earnings data 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 42.19% and a return on equity of 23.41%. As a group, research analysts predict that AGNC Investment will post 1.95 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

AGNC Investment Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a jan 25 dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, February 11th. Investors of record on Friday, January 31st will be issued a dividend of $0.12 per share. This represents a yield of 15.5%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, January 31st. AGNC Investment’s dividend payout ratio is currently 100.00%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

AGNC has been the topic of a number of research analyst reports. JMP Securities reiterated a “market perform” rating on shares of AGNC Investment in a research report on Thursday, January 23rd. JPMorgan Chase & Co. dropped their target price on AGNC Investment from $10.00 to $9.50 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, December 9th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods lowered their price target on AGNC Investment from $10.75 to $10.25 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday. Royal Bank of Canada reissued an “outperform” rating and issued a $11.00 price objective on shares of AGNC Investment in a report on Thursday. Finally, StockNews.com cut AGNC Investment from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a report on Saturday, October 19th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have assigned a hold rating and seven have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $10.64.

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).