AGNC Investment (NASDAQ:AGNC) Shares Up 1% – Time to Buy?

AGNC Investment Corp. (NASDAQ:AGNC) shares traded up 1% during trading on Thursday . The company traded as high as $8.43 and last traded at $8.39. 12,816,256 shares traded hands during trading, a decline of 31% from the average session volume of 18,522,822 shares. The stock had previously closed at $8.30.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

AGNC has been the subject of several analyst reports. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reduced their price target on shares of AGNC Investment from $9.50 to $8.50 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday. JMP Securities reissued a “market perform” rating on shares of AGNC Investment in a report on Thursday, January 23rd. Royal Bank of Canada reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and set a $11.00 target price on shares of AGNC Investment in a research note on Thursday, January 30th. Wells Fargo & Company lowered their price target on AGNC Investment from $12.00 to $11.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, January 30th. Finally, Argus raised shares of AGNC Investment to a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday, February 4th. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $10.36.

AGNC Investment Stock Performance

The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $9.81 and a 200 day moving average price of $9.75. The firm has a market capitalization of $7.68 billion, a PE ratio of 8.64 and a beta of 1.32. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.01, a current ratio of 0.23 and a quick ratio of 0.23.

AGNC Investment (NASDAQ:AGNC) last issued its earnings results on Monday, January 27th. The real estate investment trust reported $0.37 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.42 by ($0.05). AGNC Investment had a net margin of 29.26% and a return on equity of 21.92%. Research analysts anticipate that AGNC Investment Corp. will post 1.61 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

AGNC Investment Dividend Announcement

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

Insider Activity at AGNC Investment

In related news, CFO Bernice Bell sold 13,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on 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 owns 372,226 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $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 hyperlink. Also, Director Frances Spark sold 5,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, February 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $10.10, for a total transaction of $50,500.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now owns 75,919 shares in the company, valued at $766,781.90. This represents a 6.18 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. 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 modified their holdings of the business. Fourth Dimension Wealth LLC bought a new stake in AGNC Investment in the fourth quarter valued at about $26,000. Financial Life Planners bought a new position in shares of AGNC Investment in the fourth quarter valued at $28,000. National Bank of Canada FI increased its position in AGNC Investment by 112.7% during the fourth 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 last quarter. Spire Wealth Management lifted its holdings in AGNC Investment by 94.5% during the 4th quarter. Spire Wealth Management now owns 4,059 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $37,000 after purchasing an additional 1,972 shares during the last quarter. Finally, CoreCap Advisors LLC raised its holdings in AGNC Investment by 34.8% in the 4th quarter. CoreCap Advisors LLC now owns 4,765 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $44,000 after acquiring an additional 1,229 shares during the period. 38.28% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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).