AGNC Investment Corp. (NASDAQ:AGNC) Given Average Recommendation of “Moderate Buy” by Analysts

AGNC Investment Corp. (NASDAQ:AGNC) has earned an average recommendation of “Moderate Buy” from the eleven brokerages that are covering the firm, MarketBeat Ratings reports. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have assigned a buy rating to the company. The average 12-month target price among brokerages that have issued a report on the stock in the last year is $10.33.

AGNC has been the subject of several recent analyst reports. JMP Securities reissued a “market perform” rating on shares of AGNC Investment in a report on Wednesday, August 28th. Maxim Group downgraded AGNC Investment from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Wednesday, July 24th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods upped their price target on shares of AGNC Investment from $10.00 to $10.25 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, July 25th. Compass Point upped their price target on AGNC Investment from $10.25 to $11.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 24th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada raised their target price on shares of AGNC Investment from $10.00 to $11.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, August 16th.

AGNC Investment Stock Performance

Shares of AGNC stock opened at $10.60 on Friday. AGNC Investment has a 12 month low of $6.81 and a 12 month high of $10.85. The firm’s 50 day moving average is $10.30 and its 200 day moving average is $9.92. The company has a current ratio of 0.27, a quick ratio of 0.27 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.01. The stock has a market capitalization of $7.71 billion, a P/E ratio of 11.65 and a beta of 1.47.

AGNC Investment (NASDAQ:AGNC) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Monday, July 22nd. The real estate investment trust reported $0.53 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.54 by ($0.01). The firm had revenue of $695.00 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $643.29 million. AGNC Investment had a net margin of 16.15% and a return on equity of 26.21%. AGNC Investment’s revenue was up 52.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $0.67 EPS. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that AGNC Investment will post 2.11 earnings per share for the current year.

AGNC Investment Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a oct 24 dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, November 12th. Investors of record on Thursday, October 31st will be given a dividend of $0.12 per share. This represents a yield of 14%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, October 31st. AGNC Investment’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 158.24%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, CFO Bernice Bell sold 5,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, August 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $9.97, for a total transaction of $49,850.00. Following the sale, the chief financial officer now owns 308,182 shares in the company, valued at $3,072,574.54. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Corporate insiders own 0.52% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On AGNC Investment

Several institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of AGNC. Fisher Asset Management LLC bought a new position in AGNC Investment during the 4th quarter valued at about $123,000. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its holdings in AGNC Investment by 10.5% in the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 63,366,808 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $621,628,000 after purchasing an additional 6,019,268 shares during the last quarter. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. grew its position in AGNC Investment by 43.5% in the 4th quarter. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. now owns 21,021 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $206,000 after purchasing an additional 6,369 shares during the period. BTC Capital Management Inc. purchased a new stake in AGNC Investment during the 1st quarter valued at $119,000. Finally, International Assets Investment Management LLC lifted its holdings in shares of AGNC Investment by 11.9% during the 1st quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 91,091 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $893,000 after buying an additional 9,678 shares during the period. 38.28% of the stock is 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).