AGNC Investment (NASDAQ:AGNC) Shares Down 2.8% – Here’s Why

Shares of AGNC Investment Corp. (NASDAQ:AGNC) were down 2.8% on Friday . The stock traded as low as $8.91 and last traded at $9.08. Approximately 13,830,896 shares traded hands during mid-day trading, a decline of 19% from the average daily volume of 16,986,129 shares. The stock had previously closed at $9.34.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of analysts have recently commented on AGNC shares. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods reduced their price target 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. Wells Fargo & Company cut their target price 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. StockNews.com upgraded shares of AGNC Investment from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday, February 25th. Royal Bank of Canada restated an “outperform” rating and issued a $11.00 price target on shares of AGNC Investment in a research note on Thursday, January 30th. Finally, Argus upgraded AGNC Investment to a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday, February 4th. Four analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $10.50.

AGNC Investment Price Performance

The firm has a 50 day moving average price of $10.11 and a 200 day moving average price of $9.88. The stock has a market cap of $8.22 billion, a P/E ratio of 9.26 and a beta of 1.32. The company has a quick ratio of 0.23, a current ratio of 0.23 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.01.

AGNC Investment (NASDAQ:AGNC) last issued its quarterly earnings results 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 29.26% and a return on equity of 21.92%. On average, analysts forecast that AGNC Investment Corp. will post 1.61 EPS for the current fiscal year.

AGNC Investment Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a mar 25 dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, April 9th. Investors of record on Monday, March 31st will be given a dividend of $0.12 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, March 31st. This represents a dividend yield of 14.1%. AGNC Investment’s dividend payout ratio is 148.45%.

Insider Buying and Selling 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 transaction of $130,520.00. Following the sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 372,226 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,737,149.04. This represents a 3.37 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, Director Frances Spark sold 5,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred 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 owns 75,919 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $766,781.90. This represents 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 insiders.

Institutional Trading of AGNC Investment

A number of large investors have recently made changes to their positions in AGNC. Fourth Dimension Wealth LLC purchased a new position in AGNC Investment in the fourth quarter worth about $26,000. Financial Life Planners bought a new stake in shares of AGNC Investment in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $28,000. Point72 Asset Management L.P. purchased a new position in shares of AGNC Investment in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $32,000. National Bank of Canada FI increased its position in shares of AGNC Investment by 112.7% during the 4th quarter. National Bank of Canada FI now owns 3,458 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $32,000 after purchasing an additional 1,832 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Spire Wealth Management raised its holdings in 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 buying an additional 1,972 shares during the period. 38.28% of the stock is currently 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).