AGNC Investment (NASDAQ:AGNC) Shares Up 1.1% – Time to Buy?

AGNC Investment Corp. (NASDAQ:AGNC) shares rose 1.1% on Thursday . The company traded as high as $9.87 and last traded at $9.87. Approximately 5,629,858 shares changed hands during trading, a decline of 66% from the average daily volume of 16,362,967 shares. The stock had previously closed at $9.76.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of brokerages have issued reports on AGNC. JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut their price target on AGNC Investment from $10.00 to $9.50 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, December 9th. Royal Bank of Canada reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and issued a $11.00 price objective on shares of AGNC Investment in a research note on Thursday, January 30th. Wells Fargo & Company decreased their target price on AGNC Investment from $12.00 to $11.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, January 30th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods dropped their price target on AGNC Investment from $10.75 to $10.25 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, January 29th. Finally, StockNews.com upgraded shares of AGNC Investment from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday, February 25th. Four analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $10.50.

AGNC Investment Stock Down 2.5 %

The business has a 50-day moving average price of $10.14 and a 200 day moving average price of $9.92. The company has a current ratio of 0.23, a quick ratio of 0.23 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.01. The stock has a market capitalization of $8.72 billion, a P/E ratio of 9.81 and a beta of 1.50.

AGNC Investment (NASDAQ:AGNC) last released its quarterly earnings data on Monday, January 27th. The real estate investment trust reported $0.37 EPS 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, equities analysts expect that AGNC Investment Corp. will post 1.61 EPS for the current fiscal 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. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, March 31st. This represents a yield of 14.1%. AGNC Investment’s payout ratio is currently 148.45%.

Insider Activity

In related news, CFO Bernice Bell sold 13,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction 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 sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 372,226 shares in the company, valued at $3,737,149.04. This trade represents a 3.37 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, Director Frances Spark sold 5,000 shares of AGNC Investment stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, February 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $10.10, for a total transaction of $50,500.00. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 75,919 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $766,781.90. This represents a 6.18 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Corporate insiders own 0.42% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On AGNC Investment

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the business. Hsbc Holdings PLC grew its position in AGNC Investment by 5.6% in the 4th quarter. Hsbc Holdings PLC now owns 18,259 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $168,000 after acquiring an additional 970 shares during the last quarter. CIBC Asset Management Inc grew its holdings in shares of AGNC Investment by 5.3% in the fourth quarter. CIBC Asset Management Inc now owns 21,428 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $197,000 after purchasing an additional 1,075 shares during the last quarter. Armstrong Advisory Group Inc. increased its stake in AGNC Investment by 6.6% in the 4th quarter. Armstrong Advisory Group Inc. now owns 18,505 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $170,000 after buying an additional 1,150 shares during the period. Garden State Investment Advisory Services LLC lifted its holdings in AGNC Investment by 10.0% during the 3rd quarter. Garden State Investment Advisory Services LLC now owns 12,947 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $135,000 after buying an additional 1,176 shares in the last quarter. Finally, CoreCap Advisors LLC boosted its position in AGNC Investment by 34.8% in the 4th quarter. CoreCap Advisors LLC now owns 4,765 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $44,000 after buying an additional 1,229 shares during the period. 38.28% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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).