AGNC Investment Sees Unusually High Options Volume (NASDAQ:AGNC)

AGNC Investment Corp. (NASDAQ:AGNC) saw some unusual options trading on Wednesday. Stock investors acquired 97,148 put options on the company. This represents an increase of approximately 155% compared to the typical volume of 38,166 put options.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of analysts have commented on AGNC shares. StockNews.com upgraded AGNC Investment from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday, February 25th. Royal Bank of Canada restated an “outperform” rating and set a $11.00 target price on shares of AGNC Investment in a research report on Thursday, January 30th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods reduced their price target on AGNC Investment from $10.75 to $10.25 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, January 29th. JMP Securities reiterated a “market perform” rating on shares of AGNC Investment in a research report on Thursday, January 23rd. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company dropped their price objective on shares of 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 research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, AGNC Investment presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $10.50.

AGNC Investment Stock Down 0.1 %

Shares of AGNC Investment stock traded down $0.01 during trading on Wednesday, reaching $8.54. The company had a trading volume of 58,856,344 shares, compared to its average volume of 17,670,550. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.01, a quick ratio of 0.23 and a current ratio of 0.23. The firm’s fifty day moving average is $10.03 and its 200-day moving average is $9.84. AGNC Investment has a fifty-two week low of $7.87 and a fifty-two week high of $10.85. The company has a market cap of $7.81 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 8.85 and a beta of 1.32.

AGNC Investment (NASDAQ:AGNC) last posted its earnings results 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, analysts anticipate that AGNC Investment will post 1.61 EPS for the current year.

AGNC Investment Announces Dividend

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

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, CFO Bernice Bell sold 13,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, January 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $10.04, for a total transaction of $130,520.00. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 372,226 shares in the company, valued at $3,737,149.04. The trade was a 3.37 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, Director Frances Spark sold 5,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, February 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $10.10, for a total value of $50,500.00. Following the transaction, the director now owns 75,919 shares in the company, valued at $766,781.90. The trade was a 6.18 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.42% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in AGNC. Fourth Dimension Wealth LLC acquired a new stake in AGNC Investment during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $26,000. Financial Life Planners purchased a new stake in shares of AGNC Investment during the fourth quarter valued at $28,000. Point72 Asset Management L.P. acquired a new position in shares of AGNC Investment in the 3rd quarter valued at $32,000. National Bank of Canada FI raised its holdings in AGNC Investment by 112.7% during the 4th quarter. National Bank of Canada FI now owns 3,458 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $32,000 after buying an additional 1,832 shares during the period. Finally, Spire Wealth Management lifted its stake in AGNC Investment by 94.5% during the fourth quarter. Spire Wealth Management now owns 4,059 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $37,000 after buying an additional 1,972 shares in the last quarter. 38.28% of the stock is currently 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).