Algebris UK Ltd Cuts Stock Position in AGNC Investment Corp. (NASDAQ:AGNC)

Algebris UK Ltd cut its holdings in AGNC Investment Corp. (NASDAQ:AGNC) by 25.5% in the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm owned 641,729 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock after selling 219,489 shares during the quarter. AGNC Investment accounts for 1.4% of Algebris UK Ltd’s portfolio, making the stock its 24th largest position. Algebris UK Ltd’s holdings in AGNC Investment were worth $5,708,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Financial Life Planners purchased a new position in AGNC Investment during the fourth quarter worth $28,000. Point72 Asset Management L.P. purchased a new stake in shares of AGNC Investment during the third quarter valued at $32,000. Spire Wealth Management boosted its stake in shares of AGNC Investment by 94.5% during the fourth quarter. Spire Wealth Management now owns 4,059 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $37,000 after purchasing an additional 1,972 shares during the period. Strategic Financial Concepts LLC boosted its stake in shares of AGNC Investment by 775.6% during the fourth quarter. Strategic Financial Concepts LLC now owns 581,569 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $54,000 after purchasing an additional 515,148 shares during the period. Finally, Huntington National Bank boosted its stake in shares of AGNC Investment by 105.7% during the third quarter. Huntington National Bank now owns 6,705 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $70,000 after purchasing an additional 3,445 shares during the period. 38.28% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of analysts have recently issued reports on AGNC shares. Royal Bank of Canada reissued an “outperform” rating and set a $11.00 target price on shares of AGNC Investment in a research note on Thursday, January 30th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods decreased their price objective on AGNC Investment from $10.75 to $10.25 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, January 29th. JMP Securities restated a “market perform” rating on shares of AGNC Investment in a report on Thursday, January 23rd. Argus upgraded AGNC Investment to a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday, February 4th. 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. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, AGNC Investment currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $10.50.

Insider Activity

In other news, CFO Bernice Bell sold 13,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, January 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $10.04, for a total transaction of $130,520.00. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer now owns 372,226 shares in the company, valued at $3,737,149.04. This represents a 3.37 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, Director Frances Spark sold 5,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, February 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $10.10, for a total transaction of $50,500.00. Following the transaction, the director now owns 75,919 shares in the company, valued at approximately $766,781.90. This trade represents a 6.18 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Corporate insiders own 0.52% of the company’s stock.

AGNC Investment Stock Performance

Shares of AGNC Investment stock opened at $10.39 on Wednesday. The company has a market capitalization of $9.51 billion, a PE ratio of 10.71 and a beta of 1.50. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.01, a quick ratio of 0.23 and a current ratio of 0.23. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $10.03 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $9.93. AGNC Investment Corp. has a one year low of $8.92 and a one year high of $10.85.

AGNC Investment (NASDAQ:AGNC) last announced its earnings results 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 return on equity of 21.92% and a net margin of 29.26%. Research analysts expect that AGNC Investment Corp. will post 1.61 EPS for the current fiscal year.

AGNC Investment Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a mar 25 dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, April 9th. Stockholders of record on Monday, March 31st will be issued 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 (DPR) is currently 148.45%.

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).