AGNC Investment (NASDAQ:AGNC) Shares Up 1.2%

AGNC Investment Corp. (NASDAQ:AGNC) shot up 1.2% on Friday . The stock traded as high as $9.17 and last traded at $9.17. 2,056,956 shares traded hands during trading, a decline of 82% from the average session volume of 11,615,728 shares. The stock had previously closed at $9.06.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of brokerages have issued reports on AGNC. Barclays lifted their target price on shares of AGNC Investment from $8.00 to $9.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Monday, January 22nd. Compass Point started coverage on shares of AGNC Investment in a research note on Tuesday, February 20th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $10.25 price objective for the company. Royal Bank of Canada reduced their price objective on shares of AGNC Investment from $11.00 to $10.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, January 25th. Jonestrading started coverage on shares of AGNC Investment in a research note on Friday, March 22nd. They issued a “buy” rating and a $10.75 price objective for the company. Finally, StockNews.com raised shares of AGNC Investment from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday, March 12th. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and four have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, AGNC Investment presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $9.93.

AGNC Investment Stock Performance

The firm has a market cap of $6.37 billion, a P/E ratio of 917.92 and a beta of 1.45. The stock’s 50 day moving average is $9.56 and its two-hundred day moving average is $9.25. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.01, a current ratio of 0.26 and a quick ratio of 0.26.

AGNC Investment (NASDAQ:AGNC) last posted its earnings results on Monday, January 29th. The real estate investment trust reported $0.60 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.49 by $0.11. The business had revenue of $640.00 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $570.42 million. AGNC Investment had a net margin of 7.59% and a return on equity of 28.02%. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $0.74 earnings per share. As a group, equities analysts predict that AGNC Investment Corp. will post 2.16 EPS for the current year.

AGNC Investment Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a apr 24 dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, May 9th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, April 30th will be given a $0.12 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Monday, April 29th. This represents a yield of 15.4%. AGNC Investment’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 14,414.41%.

Insider Buying and Selling at AGNC Investment

In other AGNC Investment news, CFO Bernice Bell sold 10,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, January 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $9.85, for a total value of $98,500.00. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 287,282 shares in the company, valued at $2,829,727.70. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this link. Company insiders own 0.52% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On AGNC Investment

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Norges Bank acquired a new position in shares of AGNC Investment during the fourth quarter worth approximately $69,215,000. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its position in shares of AGNC Investment by 10.5% during 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 in the last quarter. Vaughan Nelson Investment Management L.P. acquired a new position in shares of AGNC Investment during the fourth quarter worth approximately $38,593,000. Clearbridge Investments LLC lifted its position in shares of AGNC Investment by 85.6% during the third quarter. Clearbridge Investments LLC now owns 7,301,298 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $68,924,000 after purchasing an additional 3,367,112 shares in the last quarter. Finally, GRS Advisors LLC acquired a new position in shares of AGNC Investment during the fourth quarter worth approximately $32,509,000. 38.28% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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).