AGNC Investment (NASDAQ:AGNC) Trading 1% Higher – Should You Buy?

AGNC Investment Corp. (NASDAQ:AGNC)’s share price rose 1% during mid-day trading on Thursday . The stock traded as high as $8.43 and last traded at $8.39. Approximately 12,816,256 shares were traded during mid-day trading, a decline of 31% from the average daily volume of 18,522,822 shares. The stock had previously closed at $8.30.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities analysts recently issued reports on AGNC shares. Argus upgraded AGNC Investment to a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday, February 4th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods reduced their price objective on shares of AGNC Investment from $10.75 to $10.25 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, January 29th. Royal Bank of Canada reissued an “outperform” rating and issued a $11.00 target price on shares of AGNC Investment in a research report on Thursday, January 30th. 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. Finally, StockNews.com raised shares of AGNC Investment from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday, February 25th. Four analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $10.36.

AGNC Investment Trading Up 0.5 %

The business has a 50-day moving average of $9.74 and a 200-day moving average of $9.72. 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 stock has a market cap of $7.63 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 8.60 and a beta of 1.32.

AGNC Investment (NASDAQ:AGNC) last announced its earnings results on Monday, January 27th. The real estate investment trust reported $0.37 earnings per share (EPS) 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%. As a group, research analysts forecast that AGNC Investment Corp. will post 1.61 earnings per share for the current year.

AGNC Investment Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a apr 25 dividend, which will be paid on Friday, May 9th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, April 30th will be issued a dividend of $0.12 per share. This represents a yield of 17.7%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, April 30th. AGNC Investment’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 148.45%.

Insider Transactions at AGNC Investment

In other news, CFO Bernice Bell sold 13,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, January 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $10.04, for a total value of $130,520.00. Following the sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 372,226 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,737,149.04. This represents a 3.37 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, Director Frances Spark sold 5,000 shares of AGNC Investment stock in a transaction on Wednesday, February 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $10.10, for a total value of $50,500.00. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 75,919 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $766,781.90. The trade was a 6.18 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.42% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On AGNC Investment

Institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Fourth Dimension Wealth LLC bought a new position in AGNC Investment in the fourth quarter valued at about $26,000. Financial Life Planners acquired a new position in AGNC Investment in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $28,000. National Bank of Canada FI boosted its stake in AGNC Investment by 112.7% in the fourth quarter. National Bank of Canada FI now owns 3,458 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $32,000 after acquiring an additional 1,832 shares during the last quarter. Spire Wealth Management raised its position in shares of AGNC Investment by 94.5% during the 4th quarter. Spire Wealth Management now owns 4,059 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $37,000 after acquiring an additional 1,972 shares during the last quarter. Finally, CoreCap Advisors LLC lifted its stake in shares of AGNC Investment by 34.8% in the 4th quarter. CoreCap Advisors LLC now owns 4,765 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $44,000 after purchasing an additional 1,229 shares during the period. 38.28% of the stock is owned by 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).