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

Shares of AGNC Investment Corp. (NASDAQ:AGNC) shot up 0.5% during mid-day trading on Monday . The stock traded as high as $10.15 and last traded at $10.13. 3,913,571 shares were traded during mid-day trading, a decline of 79% from the average session volume of 19,068,953 shares. The stock had previously closed at $10.07.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

AGNC has been the topic of a number of recent research reports. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered their target price on AGNC Investment from $10.00 to $9.50 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, December 9th. JMP Securities reaffirmed a “market perform” rating on shares of AGNC Investment in a research note on Thursday, January 23rd. Royal Bank of Canada reiterated an “outperform” rating and issued a $11.00 target price on shares of AGNC Investment in a research note on Thursday, January 30th. StockNews.com lowered shares of AGNC Investment from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research report on Saturday, October 19th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company cut their price objective on shares of AGNC Investment from $12.00 to $11.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, January 30th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have assigned a hold rating and seven have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $10.50.

AGNC Investment Stock Performance

The company has a market capitalization of $9.02 billion, a PE ratio of 10.49 and a beta of 1.48. The company has a 50 day simple moving average of $9.59 and a 200 day simple moving average of $9.88. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.01, a quick ratio of 0.23 and a current ratio of 0.23.

AGNC Investment (NASDAQ:AGNC) last posted its quarterly earnings data 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%. Analysts anticipate that AGNC Investment Corp. will post 1.61 earnings per share for the current year.

AGNC Investment Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a jan 25 dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, February 11th. Shareholders of record on Friday, January 31st were paid a $0.12 dividend. This represents a yield of 15.5%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, January 31st. AGNC Investment’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 148.46%.

Insider Activity

In other AGNC Investment news, CFO Bernice Bell sold 13,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Thursday, January 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $10.04, for a total transaction 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 trade represents a 3.37 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, Director Frances Spark sold 5,000 shares of AGNC Investment stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, February 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $10.10, for a total transaction of $50,500.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now owns 75,919 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $766,781.90. This trade represents a 6.18 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Company insiders own 0.52% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On AGNC Investment

Several large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in AGNC. Riverview Trust Co acquired a new stake in shares of AGNC Investment in the third quarter valued at $25,000. Financial Life Planners purchased a new stake in AGNC Investment during the 4th quarter worth about $28,000. Point72 Asset Management L.P. acquired a new stake in AGNC Investment in the 3rd quarter valued at about $32,000. National Bank of Canada FI boosted its stake in shares of 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 buying an additional 1,832 shares during the period. Finally, Blue Trust Inc. boosted its stake in shares of 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 valued at $37,000 after buying an additional 2,966 shares during the period. 38.28% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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).