AGNC Investment (NASDAQ:AGNC) Stock Price Up 3.2% – Should You Buy?

Shares of AGNC Investment Corp. (NASDAQ:AGNC) shot up 3.2% during trading on Friday . The stock traded as high as $10.92 and last traded at $10.90. 20,731,607 shares were traded during trading, a decline of 2% from the average session volume of 21,188,492 shares. The stock had previously closed at $10.56.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research firms have issued reports on AGNC. Piper Sandler reduced their target price on shares of AGNC Investment from $12.50 to $10.50 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, April 2nd. Weiss Ratings reiterated a “hold (c)” rating on shares of AGNC Investment in a research note on Friday, March 27th. Wall Street Zen cut shares of AGNC Investment from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research note on Saturday, December 27th. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their target price on shares of AGNC Investment from $10.00 to $12.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, January 28th. Finally, JonesTrading cut shares of AGNC Investment from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 22nd. Four analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and seven have assigned a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $11.03.

AGNC Investment Price Performance

The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.01, a current ratio of 0.21 and a quick ratio of 0.21. The stock has a market capitalization of $12.24 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 7.79 and a beta of 1.38. The stock’s 50 day simple moving average is $10.67 and its 200-day simple moving average is $10.64.

AGNC Investment (NASDAQ:AGNC) last posted its earnings results on Monday, January 26th. The real estate investment trust reported $0.35 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.37 by ($0.02). AGNC Investment had a net margin of 47.40% and a return on equity of 18.32%. The business had revenue of $1.12 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $354.75 million. On average, analysts expect that AGNC Investment Corp. will post 1.61 EPS for the current fiscal year.

AGNC Investment Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a monthly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, May 11th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, April 30th will be paid a $0.12 dividend. This represents a c) dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 13.2%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, April 30th. AGNC Investment’s payout ratio is presently 102.86%.

Insider Transactions at AGNC Investment

In other news, EVP Kenneth L. Pollack sold 50,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, January 28th. The shares were sold at an average price of $12.11, for a total value of $605,500.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president directly owned 552,297 shares in the company, valued at approximately $6,688,316.67. The trade was a 8.30% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, EVP Bernice Bell sold 25,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, January 28th. The stock was sold at an average price of $12.14, for a total transaction of $303,500.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president owned 491,728 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $5,969,577.92. The trade was a 4.84% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Over the last three months, insiders sold 775,000 shares of company stock worth $9,246,000. 0.40% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Institutional Trading of AGNC Investment

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the company. Brookstone Capital Management lifted its stake in shares of AGNC Investment by 35.2% in the first quarter. Brookstone Capital Management now owns 59,944 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $601,000 after buying an additional 15,602 shares during the last quarter. Warren Street Wealth Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in shares of AGNC Investment in the first quarter worth $417,000. WESPAC Advisors SoCal LLC acquired a new stake in shares of AGNC Investment in the first quarter worth $868,000. Rockefeller Capital Management L.P. lifted its stake in shares of AGNC Investment by 2.6% in the fourth quarter. Rockefeller Capital Management L.P. now owns 195,859 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $2,100,000 after buying an additional 4,935 shares during the last quarter. Finally, World Investment Advisors acquired a new stake in shares of AGNC Investment in the fourth quarter worth $209,000. 38.28% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

AGNC Investment Company Profile

AGNC Investment Corp. is a self-managed real estate investment trust (REIT) that primarily acquires and manages a portfolio of residential mortgage-backed securities guaranteed by U.S. government-sponsored enterprises such as Ginnie Mae, Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac. The company employs a leveraged total return strategy, borrowing against its securities to enhance income potential while using interest rate hedges to manage risk. AGNC’s investment objective is to generate attractive monthly dividends and long-term capital appreciation for its shareholders.

Founded in 2008 and headquartered in Bethesda, Maryland, AGNC focuses exclusively on U.S.