AGNC Investment (NASDAQ:AGNC) Shares Down 0.3% – Should You Sell?

Shares of AGNC Investment Corp. (NASDAQ:AGNC) fell 0.3% on Thursday . The company traded as low as $10.31 and last traded at $10.33. 4,031,364 shares changed hands during mid-day trading, a decline of 75% from the average session volume of 16,069,480 shares. The stock had previously closed at $10.36.

Analyst Ratings Changes

AGNC has been the topic of a number of research analyst reports. JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut their price target on AGNC Investment from $10.00 to $9.50 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, December 9th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods cut their target price on shares of AGNC Investment from $10.75 to $10.25 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, January 29th. Argus raised shares of AGNC Investment to a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday, February 4th. Wells Fargo & Company cut their price objective 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, January 30th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and issued a $11.00 target price on shares of AGNC Investment in a research report on Thursday, January 30th. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $10.50.

AGNC Investment Price Performance

The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.01, a quick ratio of 0.23 and a current ratio of 0.23. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $10.10 and a 200-day simple moving average of $9.93. The firm has a market cap of $9.31 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 10.48 and a beta of 1.50.

AGNC Investment (NASDAQ:AGNC) last announced 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 net margin of 29.26% and a return on equity of 21.92%. Equities research analysts expect that AGNC Investment Corp. will post 1.61 earnings per share for the current year.

AGNC Investment Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a mar 25 dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, April 9th. Stockholders of record on Monday, March 31st will be issued a $0.12 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, March 31st. This represents a dividend yield of 14.1%. AGNC Investment’s dividend payout ratio is currently 148.45%.

Insider Activity at AGNC Investment

In other AGNC Investment news, CFO Bernice Bell sold 13,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction 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 in the company, valued at $3,737,149.04. This represents a 3.37 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, Director Frances Spark sold 5,000 shares of AGNC Investment 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 sale, the director now 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. 0.42% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Institutional Trading of AGNC Investment

Large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. grew its position in shares of AGNC Investment by 2.5% during the 3rd quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 6,768,305 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $70,796,000 after acquiring an additional 162,152 shares during the period. Barclays PLC lifted its stake in AGNC Investment by 4.8% in the third quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 1,552,969 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $16,242,000 after purchasing an additional 71,330 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC grew its holdings in AGNC Investment by 2.0% during the third quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 12,303,616 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $128,730,000 after purchasing an additional 242,640 shares during the period. Howard Financial Services LTD. increased its position in AGNC Investment by 195.2% in the fourth quarter. Howard Financial Services LTD. now owns 53,834 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $496,000 after buying an additional 35,598 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Swiss National Bank increased its holdings in AGNC Investment by 5.0% in the 3rd quarter. Swiss National Bank now owns 1,436,500 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $15,026,000 after acquiring an additional 68,300 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other 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).