AGNC Investment (NASDAQ:AGNC) Shares Down 2.2% – Here’s What Happened

Shares of AGNC Investment Corp. (NASDAQ:AGNC) fell 2.2% on Thursday . The stock traded as low as $9.24 and last traded at $9.27. 10,437,170 shares were traded during trading, a decline of 38% from the average session volume of 16,850,893 shares. The stock had previously closed at $9.48.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research firms have recently weighed in on AGNC. JPMorgan Chase & Co. dropped their target price on AGNC Investment from $10.00 to $9.50 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Monday, December 9th. JMP Securities reiterated a “market perform” rating on shares of AGNC Investment in a research note on Thursday, January 23rd. StockNews.com raised shares of AGNC Investment from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday, February 25th. Royal Bank of Canada reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and set a $11.00 target price on shares of AGNC Investment in a report on Thursday, January 30th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company cut their price target on AGNC Investment from $12.00 to $11.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, January 30th. Four analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $10.50.

AGNC Investment Stock Down 1.5 %

The company has a quick ratio of 0.23, a current ratio of 0.23 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.01. The firm has a 50 day moving average of $10.13 and a two-hundred day moving average of $9.90. The firm has a market capitalization of $8.55 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 9.63 and a beta of 1.50.

AGNC Investment (NASDAQ:AGNC) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Monday, January 27th. The real estate investment trust reported $0.37 earnings per share (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%. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that AGNC Investment Corp. will post 1.61 EPS for the current fiscal year.

AGNC Investment Announces Dividend

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

Insider Activity at AGNC Investment

In other news, Director Frances Spark sold 5,000 shares of AGNC Investment stock in a transaction 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 transaction, the director now owns 75,919 shares in the company, valued at approximately $766,781.90. The trade was a 6.18 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, CFO Bernice Bell sold 13,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction 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 completion of the sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 372,226 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,737,149.04. This represents a 3.37 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.42% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several large investors have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. California State Teachers Retirement System increased its stake in shares of AGNC Investment by 5.4% in the fourth quarter. California State Teachers Retirement System now owns 734,414 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $6,764,000 after buying an additional 37,683 shares during the period. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC increased its position in AGNC Investment by 96.4% during the 4th quarter. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC now owns 110,113 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $1,014,000 after purchasing an additional 54,049 shares during the period. Jefferies Financial Group Inc. raised its holdings in AGNC Investment by 19.6% during the 4th quarter. Jefferies Financial Group Inc. now owns 49,433 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $455,000 after purchasing an additional 8,103 shares during the last quarter. AlphaCore Capital LLC lifted its position in shares of AGNC Investment by 176.2% in the 4th quarter. AlphaCore Capital LLC now owns 69,946 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $653,000 after purchasing an additional 44,624 shares during the period. Finally, Kingstone Capital Partners Texas LLC bought a new stake in shares of AGNC Investment in the 4th quarter valued at $169,000. 38.28% of the stock is 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).