Thrivent Financial for Lutherans Raises Stock Holdings in AGNC Investment Corp. (NASDAQ:AGNC)

Thrivent Financial for Lutherans increased its stake in shares of AGNC Investment Corp. (NASDAQ:AGNC) by 12.3% in the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm owned 781,749 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock after buying an additional 85,654 shares during the quarter. Thrivent Financial for Lutherans’ holdings in AGNC Investment were worth $7,200,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Cibc World Markets Corp grew its holdings in shares of AGNC Investment by 25.0% during the fourth quarter. Cibc World Markets Corp now owns 258,414 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $2,380,000 after buying an additional 51,628 shares in the last quarter. Envestnet Portfolio Solutions Inc. boosted its position in AGNC Investment by 1.8% during the fourth quarter. Envestnet Portfolio Solutions Inc. now owns 123,060 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $1,133,000 after acquiring an additional 2,215 shares during the last quarter. one8zero8 LLC purchased a new stake in AGNC Investment in the 4th quarter worth approximately $97,000. Left Brain Wealth Management LLC raised its holdings in AGNC Investment by 196.2% in the 4th quarter. Left Brain Wealth Management LLC now owns 40,575 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $374,000 after acquiring an additional 26,875 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Thompson Siegel & Walmsley LLC lifted its stake in shares of AGNC Investment by 5.9% during the 4th quarter. Thompson Siegel & Walmsley LLC now owns 1,897,569 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $17,477,000 after purchasing an additional 105,250 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 38.28% of the company’s stock.

Insider Transactions at AGNC Investment

In other AGNC Investment 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 completion of 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 position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through 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 transaction of $50,500.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 75,919 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $766,781.90. This trade represents a 6.18 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Company insiders own 0.42% of the company’s stock.

AGNC Investment Trading Down 1.2 %

NASDAQ AGNC opened at $10.17 on Monday. The firm has a market capitalization of $9.31 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 10.48 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. AGNC Investment Corp. has a one year low of $8.92 and a one year high of $10.85. The company’s 50 day moving average price is $10.10 and its 200 day moving average price is $9.93.

AGNC Investment (NASDAQ:AGNC) last issued 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 net margin of 29.26% and a return on equity of 21.92%. On average, sell-side analysts predict that AGNC Investment Corp. will post 1.61 EPS for the current year.

AGNC Investment Dividend Announcement

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

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities research analysts have recently commented on AGNC shares. Royal Bank of Canada reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and issued a $11.00 price objective on shares of AGNC Investment in a research report on Thursday, January 30th. Wells Fargo & Company lowered their price target on AGNC Investment from $12.00 to $11.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, January 30th. StockNews.com upgraded shares of AGNC Investment from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday, February 25th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods lowered their target price on shares of AGNC Investment from $10.75 to $10.25 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, January 29th. Finally, Argus raised shares of AGNC Investment to a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday, February 4th. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, AGNC Investment presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $10.50.

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).