Sigma Planning Corp Boosts Stock Holdings in AGNC Investment Corp. (NASDAQ:AGNC)

Sigma Planning Corp raised its stake in AGNC Investment Corp. (NASDAQ:AGNC) by 2.7% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 125,045 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock after purchasing an additional 3,276 shares during the quarter. Sigma Planning Corp’s holdings in AGNC Investment were worth $1,152,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Vaughan Nelson Investment Management L.P. boosted its holdings in AGNC Investment by 200.5% in the third quarter. Vaughan Nelson Investment Management L.P. now owns 14,446,725 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $151,113,000 after acquiring an additional 9,639,675 shares during the last quarter. Natixis Advisors LLC lifted its stake in shares of AGNC Investment by 314.8% in the 3rd quarter. Natixis Advisors LLC now owns 3,842,814 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $40,196,000 after purchasing an additional 2,916,345 shares in the last quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC grew its holdings in shares of AGNC Investment by 115.0% during the 3rd quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC now owns 1,912,694 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $20,007,000 after purchasing an additional 1,023,275 shares during the period. Van ECK Associates Corp grew its holdings in shares of AGNC Investment by 34.1% during the 3rd quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp now owns 3,427,978 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $34,074,000 after purchasing an additional 870,856 shares during the period. Finally, BNP Paribas Financial Markets increased its position in AGNC Investment by 383.7% during the 3rd quarter. BNP Paribas Financial Markets now owns 949,369 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $9,930,000 after purchasing an additional 753,102 shares in the last quarter. 38.28% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities research analysts have issued reports on the stock. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods decreased their price objective on shares of AGNC Investment from $10.75 to $10.25 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, January 29th. Argus upgraded shares of AGNC Investment to a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday, February 4th. Royal Bank of Canada reiterated an “outperform” rating and issued a $11.00 price target on shares of AGNC Investment in a report on Thursday, January 30th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reduced their price objective 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. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company lowered their target price on AGNC Investment from $12.00 to $11.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, January 30th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have issued a hold rating and seven have issued a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, AGNC Investment has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $10.50.

Insider Activity

In other AGNC Investment news, CFO Bernice Bell sold 13,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on 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 sale, the chief financial officer now owns 372,226 shares in the company, valued at $3,737,149.04. The trade was a 3.37 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, Director Frances Spark sold 5,000 shares of AGNC Investment stock in a transaction dated 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 transaction, the director now directly owns 75,919 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $766,781.90. This trade represents a 6.18 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Company insiders own 0.52% of the company’s stock.

AGNC Investment Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ AGNC opened at $10.49 on Tuesday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.23, a current ratio of 0.23 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.01. AGNC Investment Corp. has a fifty-two week low of $8.92 and a fifty-two week high of $10.85. The business has a 50 day moving average price of $9.74 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $9.91. The firm has a market cap of $9.29 billion, a PE ratio of 10.81 and a beta of 1.48.

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

AGNC Investment Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a feb 25 dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, March 11th. Stockholders of record on Friday, February 28th will be given a $0.12 dividend. This represents a dividend yield of 13.8%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, February 28th. AGNC Investment’s payout ratio is currently 148.46%.

AGNC Investment 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).