Investors Buy High Volume of AGNC Investment Put Options (NASDAQ:AGNC)

AGNC Investment Corp. (NASDAQ:AGNC) saw unusually large options trading on Tuesday. Stock traders purchased 37,938 put options on the stock. This is an increase of approximately 57% compared to the average daily volume of 24,159 put options.

Insider Activity at AGNC Investment

In related news, EVP Bernice Bell sold 5,000 shares of AGNC Investment stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, July 28th. The shares were sold at an average price of $11.00, for a total transaction of $55,000.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president directly owned 406,947 shares in the company, valued at $4,476,417. The trade was a 1.21% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Company insiders own 0.40% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On AGNC Investment

Several large investors have recently made changes to their positions in AGNC. Handelsbanken Fonder AB grew its stake in shares of AGNC Investment by 0.3% in the 2nd quarter. Handelsbanken Fonder AB now owns 353,300 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $3,851,000 after purchasing an additional 900 shares during the last quarter. Wealthspire Advisors LLC lifted its stake in AGNC Investment by 0.9% during the fourth quarter. Wealthspire Advisors LLC now owns 104,287 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $1,118,000 after purchasing an additional 907 shares during the last quarter. Davidson Trust Co. lifted its stake in AGNC Investment by 4.4% during the first quarter. Davidson Trust Co. now owns 23,341 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $234,000 after purchasing an additional 985 shares during the last quarter. Wedmont Private Capital boosted its holdings in AGNC Investment by 1.4% during the second quarter. Wedmont Private Capital now owns 73,805 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $821,000 after buying an additional 988 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Spinnaker Investment Group LLC boosted its holdings in AGNC Investment by 1.4% during the second quarter. Spinnaker Investment Group LLC now owns 75,595 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $824,000 after buying an additional 1,014 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 38.28% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities analysts recently issued reports on AGNC shares. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods decreased their target price on shares of AGNC Investment from $12.00 to $11.00 and set a “market perform” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, July 22nd. Wells Fargo & Company dropped their price target 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, July 23rd. Weiss Ratings raised shares of AGNC Investment from a “hold (c+)” rating to a “buy (b-)” rating in a research note on Monday, August 17th. Compass Point cut shares of AGNC Investment from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $11.50 price objective for the company. in a report on Friday, July 17th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. reiterated a “neutral” rating and issued a $11.50 price objective (up from $11.00) on shares of AGNC Investment in a report on Friday, July 17th. Four analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and seven have assigned a Hold rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $11.11.

AGNC Investment Price Performance

Shares of AGNC traded down $0.11 during midday trading on Tuesday, reaching $10.62. The stock had a trading volume of 11,919,627 shares, compared to its average volume of 18,390,721. AGNC Investment has a 52 week low of $9.62 and a 52 week high of $12.19. The firm’s 50 day moving average price is $10.89 and its 200-day moving average price is $10.69. The company has a market capitalization of $12.59 billion, a P/E ratio of 5.59 and a beta of 1.32.

AGNC Investment (NASDAQ:AGNC) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Monday, July 20th. The real estate investment trust reported $0.40 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.38 by $0.02. AGNC Investment had a return on equity of 17.96% and a net margin of 57.94%.The business had revenue of $305.00 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.06 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted ($0.17) earnings per share. On average, equities analysts forecast that AGNC Investment will post 1.6 earnings per share for the current year.

AGNC Investment Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a monthly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, September 10th. Shareholders of record on Monday, August 31st will be issued a $0.12 dividend. This represents a c) dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 13.6%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, August 31st. AGNC Investment’s dividend payout ratio is presently 75.79%.

AGNC Investment Company Profile

AGNC Investment Corp. is a self-managed real estate investment trust (REIT) that primarily acquires and manages a portfolio of residential mortgage-backed securities guaranteed by U.S. government-sponsored enterprises such as Ginnie Mae, Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac. The company employs a leveraged total return strategy, borrowing against its securities to enhance income potential while using interest rate hedges to manage risk. AGNC’s investment objective is to generate attractive monthly dividends and long-term capital appreciation for its shareholders.

Founded in 2008 and headquartered in Bethesda, Maryland, AGNC focuses exclusively on U.S.