AGNC Investment (NASDAQ:AGNC) Trading 0.4% Higher – Time to Buy?

Shares of AGNC Investment Corp. (NASDAQ:AGNC) shot up 0.4% on Friday . The company traded as high as $10.62 and last traded at $10.58. 6,011,965 shares changed hands during trading, a decline of 68% from the average session volume of 18,810,559 shares. The stock had previously closed at $10.53.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research firms have commented on AGNC. JMP Securities reiterated a “market perform” rating on shares of AGNC Investment in a research report on Thursday, January 23rd. JPMorgan Chase & Co. decreased their price target on shares of AGNC Investment from $10.00 to $9.50 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, December 9th. Wells Fargo & Company dropped their price objective on shares of AGNC Investment from $12.00 to $11.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, January 30th. Royal Bank of Canada reiterated an “outperform” rating and set a $11.00 target price on shares of AGNC Investment in a research report on Thursday, January 30th. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods dropped their price target on shares of AGNC Investment from $10.75 to $10.25 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, January 29th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have issued a hold rating and seven have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $10.50.

AGNC Investment Price Performance

The company has a quick ratio of 0.23, a current ratio of 0.23 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.01. The company has a market capitalization of $9.31 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 10.84 and a beta of 1.48. The stock’s 50-day moving average price is $9.70 and its 200-day moving average price is $9.90.

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

AGNC Investment Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a feb 25 dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, March 11th. Shareholders of record on Friday, February 28th will be given a dividend of $0.12 per share. The ex-dividend date is Friday, February 28th. This represents a yield of 13.8%. AGNC Investment’s payout ratio is presently 148.45%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, 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 value of $50,500.00. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 75,919 shares in the company, valued at $766,781.90. This trade represents a 6.18 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, CFO Bernice Bell sold 13,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, January 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $10.04, for a total value of $130,520.00. Following the completion of the sale, 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 position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.52% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On AGNC Investment

Several institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of AGNC. Fourth Dimension Wealth LLC acquired a new stake in AGNC Investment during the 4th quarter worth approximately $26,000. Financial Life Planners acquired a new stake in shares of AGNC Investment during the fourth quarter worth $28,000. Point72 Asset Management L.P. acquired a new stake in shares of AGNC Investment during the third quarter worth $32,000. National Bank of Canada FI lifted its position in AGNC Investment by 112.7% in the 4th quarter. National Bank of Canada FI now owns 3,458 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $32,000 after acquiring an additional 1,832 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Blue Trust Inc. boosted its stake in AGNC Investment by 315.9% in the 3rd quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 3,905 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $37,000 after purchasing an additional 2,966 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 38.28% of the company’s stock.

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).