AGNC Investment (NASDAQ:AGNC) Trading 0.5% Higher – Still a Buy?

Shares of AGNC Investment Corp. (NASDAQ:AGNC) rose 0.5% on Friday . The stock traded as high as $8.45 and last traded at $8.34. Approximately 39,122,252 shares were traded during trading, an increase of 110% from the average daily volume of 18,663,875 shares. The stock had previously closed at $8.30.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities research analysts recently issued reports on the company. Wells Fargo & Company dropped their target price on AGNC Investment from $12.00 to $11.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, January 30th. JMP Securities restated a “market perform” rating on shares of AGNC Investment in a report on Thursday, January 23rd. Argus raised shares of AGNC Investment to a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday, February 4th. StockNews.com upgraded shares of AGNC Investment from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday, February 25th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. decreased their price target on AGNC Investment from $9.50 to $8.50 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $10.36.

AGNC Investment Stock Performance

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 stock’s 50-day simple moving average is $9.78 and its 200-day simple moving average is $9.74. The stock has a market cap of $7.63 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 8.60 and a beta of 1.32.

AGNC Investment (NASDAQ:AGNC) last released its earnings results on Monday, January 27th. The real estate investment trust reported $0.37 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.42 by ($0.05). AGNC Investment had a return on equity of 21.92% and a net margin of 29.26%. Analysts forecast that AGNC Investment Corp. will post 1.61 earnings per share for the current fiscal 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. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, April 30th. This represents a dividend yield of 17.7%. AGNC Investment’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 148.45%.

Insider Buying and Selling at AGNC Investment

In other news, CFO Bernice Bell sold 13,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, January 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $10.04, for a total value of $130,520.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer now owns 372,226 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,737,149.04. This represents a 3.37 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. 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 transaction of $50,500.00. Following the sale, the director now directly owns 75,919 shares in the company, valued at $766,781.90. The trade was a 6.18 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Company insiders own 0.42% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of AGNC Investment

Several institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of AGNC. Insigneo Advisory Services LLC increased its stake in shares of AGNC Investment by 12.5% in the first quarter. Insigneo Advisory Services LLC now owns 13,761 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $132,000 after buying an additional 1,529 shares during the period. Fortitude Advisory Group L.L.C. boosted its stake in shares of AGNC Investment by 1.4% in the 1st quarter. Fortitude Advisory Group L.L.C. now owns 99,543 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $954,000 after purchasing an additional 1,399 shares during the last quarter. QRG Capital Management Inc. raised its stake in AGNC Investment by 70.6% during the first quarter. QRG Capital Management Inc. now owns 53,368 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $511,000 after buying an additional 22,081 shares during the last quarter. Sowell Financial Services LLC lifted its holdings in AGNC Investment by 47.3% in the first quarter. Sowell Financial Services LLC now owns 80,478 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $771,000 after buying an additional 25,850 shares during the period. Finally, Janney Montgomery Scott LLC raised its position in shares of AGNC Investment by 22.3% in the 1st quarter. Janney Montgomery Scott LLC now owns 249,127 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $2,387,000 after acquiring an additional 45,457 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 38.28% of the company’s stock.

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).