AGNC Investment Corp. (NASDAQ:AGNC) Short Interest Update

AGNC Investment Corp. (NASDAQ:AGNC) was the recipient of a significant increase in short interest during the month of March. As of March 31st, there was short interest totalling 58,040,000 shares, an increase of 24.6% from the March 15th total of 46,570,000 shares. Approximately 6.6% of the shares of the company are short sold. Based on an average daily volume of 24,930,000 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is presently 2.3 days.

AGNC Investment Trading Down 2.2 %

Shares of AGNC opened at $8.16 on Tuesday. 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 firm has a market capitalization of $7.47 billion, a P/E ratio of 8.41 and a beta of 1.32. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $9.70 and a 200 day moving average price of $9.70. AGNC Investment has a 12-month low of $7.85 and a 12-month high of $10.85.

AGNC Investment (NASDAQ:AGNC) last released its quarterly earnings results on Monday, April 21st. The real estate investment trust reported $0.44 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.40 by $0.04. The firm had revenue of $846.00 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $436.71 million. AGNC Investment had a net margin of 29.26% and a return on equity of 21.92%. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned $0.58 EPS. Sell-side analysts forecast that AGNC Investment will post 1.61 EPS for the current year.

AGNC Investment Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a apr 25 dividend, which will be paid on Friday, May 9th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, April 30th will be issued a dividend of $0.12 per share. This represents a dividend yield of 17.7%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, April 30th. AGNC Investment’s dividend payout ratio is presently 148.45%.

Insider Transactions at AGNC Investment

In other AGNC Investment news, CFO Bernice Bell sold 13,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, January 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $10.04, for a total value of $130,520.00. Following the sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 372,226 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,737,149.04. This represents a 3.37 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, Director Frances Spark sold 5,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, February 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $10.10, for a total value of $50,500.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 75,919 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $766,781.90. This trade represents a 6.18 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Company insiders own 0.42% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of AGNC Investment

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. ORG Wealth Partners LLC boosted its stake in AGNC Investment by 1,590.8% during the first quarter. ORG Wealth Partners LLC now owns 128,127 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $1,227,000 after buying an additional 120,549 shares during the period. Friedenthal Financial purchased a new position in shares of AGNC Investment during the 1st quarter worth approximately $876,000. JBR Co Financial Management Inc acquired a new stake in AGNC Investment in the 1st quarter valued at approximately $146,000. Kingswood Wealth Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in AGNC Investment in the first quarter valued at approximately $180,000. Finally, Insigneo Advisory Services LLC boosted its position in shares of AGNC Investment by 12.5% during the first quarter. Insigneo Advisory Services LLC now owns 13,761 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $132,000 after buying an additional 1,529 shares during the period. 38.28% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several analysts have recently issued reports on the stock. Wells Fargo & Company dropped their target price on shares of AGNC Investment from $12.00 to $11.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, January 30th. Argus raised AGNC Investment to a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday, February 4th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods lowered 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 reissued a “market perform” rating on shares of AGNC Investment in a research note on Thursday, January 23rd. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered their target price on shares of AGNC Investment from $9.50 to $8.50 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, April 16th. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, AGNC Investment currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $10.36.

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).