AGNC Investment (NASDAQ:AGNC) Stock Price Up 0.7% – Should You Buy?

Shares of AGNC Investment Corp. (NASDAQ:AGNC) rose 0.7% on Tuesday . The company traded as high as $9.86 and last traded at $9.86. Approximately 8,824,001 shares were traded during trading, a decline of 50% from the average daily volume of 17,697,279 shares. The stock had previously closed at $9.79.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

AGNC has been the subject of several analyst reports. Royal Bank of Canada reiterated an “outperform” rating and set a $11.00 price target on shares of AGNC Investment in a report on Thursday. Wells Fargo & Company cut their price target on AGNC Investment from $12.00 to $11.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday. StockNews.com lowered AGNC Investment from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research report on Saturday, October 19th. 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 report on Wednesday. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. decreased their price objective on AGNC Investment from $10.00 to $9.50 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Monday, December 9th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have issued a hold rating and seven have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $10.50.

AGNC Investment Stock Performance

The stock’s 50-day moving average price is $9.52 and its 200-day moving average price is $9.89. The company has a market capitalization of $8.93 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 7.00 and a beta of 1.47. 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 (NASDAQ:AGNC) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Monday, January 27th. The real estate investment trust reported $0.37 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates 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, equities research analysts expect that AGNC Investment Corp. will post 1.95 earnings per share for the current year.

AGNC Investment Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a jan 25 dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, February 11th. Stockholders of record on Friday, January 31st will be given a $0.12 dividend. This represents a dividend yield of 15.5%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, January 31st. AGNC Investment’s dividend payout ratio is currently 148.45%.

Institutional Trading of AGNC Investment

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. raised its stake in AGNC Investment by 2.5% during the third quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 6,768,305 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $70,796,000 after purchasing an additional 162,152 shares during the period. Vaughan Nelson Investment Management L.P. raised its holdings in shares of 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 worth $151,113,000 after purchasing an additional 9,639,675 shares during the period. Barclays PLC lifted its stake in shares of AGNC Investment by 4.8% in the 3rd quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 1,552,969 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $16,242,000 after purchasing an additional 71,330 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC grew its holdings in shares of AGNC Investment by 2.0% during the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 12,303,616 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $128,730,000 after purchasing an additional 242,640 shares during the period. Finally, Howard Financial Services LTD. increased its position in AGNC Investment by 195.2% during the 4th quarter. Howard Financial Services LTD. now owns 53,834 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $496,000 after purchasing an additional 35,598 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 38.28% of the company’s stock.

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).