Frances Spark Sells 5,000 Shares of AGNC Investment Corp. (NASDAQ:AGNC) Stock

AGNC Investment Corp. (NASDAQ:AGNC) Director Frances Spark sold 5,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, April 24th. The shares were sold at an average price of $9.35, for a total value of $46,750.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now owns 75,545 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $706,345.75. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website.

AGNC Investment Stock Performance

NASDAQ AGNC opened at $9.24 on Friday. AGNC Investment Corp. has a 52-week low of $6.81 and a 52-week high of $10.64. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.01, a quick ratio of 0.26 and a current ratio of 0.26. The company has a market capitalization of $6.42 billion, a P/E ratio of 10.13 and a beta of 1.45. The company has a fifty day moving average of $9.56 and a 200-day moving average of $9.26.

AGNC Investment (NASDAQ:AGNC) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, April 23rd. The real estate investment trust reported $0.58 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.56 by $0.02. AGNC Investment had a net margin of 32.12% and a return on equity of 27.92%. The business had revenue of $642.00 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $568.38 million. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $0.70 earnings per share. As a group, equities research analysts predict that AGNC Investment Corp. will post 2.18 EPS for the current fiscal year.

AGNC Investment Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a apr 24 dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, May 9th. Investors of record on Tuesday, April 30th will be given a dividend of $0.12 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, April 29th. This represents a yield of 15.4%. AGNC Investment’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 158.24%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

AGNC has been the subject of a number of recent research reports. Compass Point initiated coverage on AGNC Investment in a report on Tuesday, February 20th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $10.25 price objective for the company. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods decreased their price objective on AGNC Investment from $10.00 to $9.50 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday. Barclays increased their price target on AGNC Investment from $8.00 to $9.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Monday, January 22nd. StockNews.com upgraded AGNC Investment from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday, March 12th. Finally, Jonestrading decreased their price target on AGNC Investment from $10.75 to $10.25 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and four have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $9.79.

Institutional Trading of AGNC Investment

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Vaughan Nelson Investment Management L.P. purchased a new stake in AGNC Investment during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $38,593,000. Citigroup Inc. increased its stake in shares of AGNC Investment by 103.2% in the third quarter. Citigroup Inc. now owns 185,721 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $1,753,000 after purchasing an additional 94,332 shares in the last quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp increased its stake in shares of AGNC Investment by 4.7% in the third quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp now owns 1,752,044 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $16,539,000 after purchasing an additional 78,253 shares in the last quarter. Stifel Financial Corp increased its stake in shares of AGNC Investment by 48.0% in the third quarter. Stifel Financial Corp now owns 451,460 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $4,262,000 after purchasing an additional 146,406 shares in the last quarter. Finally, QRG Capital Management Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of AGNC Investment in the third quarter worth $3,655,000. 38.28% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other 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).