AGNC Investment (NASDAQ:AGNC) Shares Down 2.8% – Should You Sell?

AGNC Investment Corp. (NASDAQ:AGNC) traded down 2.8% during mid-day trading on Friday . The stock traded as low as $8.91 and last traded at $9.08. 13,830,896 shares traded hands during mid-day trading, a decline of 19% from the average session volume of 16,986,129 shares. The stock had previously closed at $9.34.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities research analysts recently issued reports on AGNC shares. Royal Bank of Canada reissued an “outperform” rating and set a $11.00 price target on shares of AGNC Investment in a research note on Thursday, January 30th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reduced 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. JMP Securities reissued a “market perform” rating on shares of AGNC Investment in a research report on Thursday, January 23rd. Argus raised shares of AGNC Investment to a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday, February 4th. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods decreased 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 note on Wednesday, January 29th. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have issued a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $10.50.

AGNC Investment Stock Performance

The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.01, a current ratio of 0.23 and a quick ratio of 0.23. The company has a market cap of $8.22 billion, a PE ratio of 9.26 and a beta of 1.32. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $10.11 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $9.88.

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

AGNC Investment Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a mar 25 dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, April 9th. Investors of record on Monday, March 31st will be paid a dividend of $0.12 per share. The ex-dividend date is Monday, March 31st. This represents a dividend yield of 14.1%. AGNC Investment’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 148.45%.

Insider Activity at AGNC Investment

In related news, Director Frances Spark sold 5,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, February 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $10.10, for a total transaction of $50,500.00. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 75,919 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $766,781.90. This represents a 6.18 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, CFO Bernice Bell sold 13,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated 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 sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 372,226 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,737,149.04. This represents a 3.37 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.42% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Trading of AGNC Investment

Large investors have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Fourth Dimension Wealth LLC purchased a new position in shares of AGNC Investment in the fourth quarter worth $26,000. Financial Life Planners purchased a new position in AGNC Investment in the 4th quarter worth $28,000. Point72 Asset Management L.P. purchased a new position in AGNC Investment in the 3rd quarter worth $32,000. National Bank of Canada FI grew its stake in AGNC Investment by 112.7% during 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 purchasing an additional 1,832 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Spire Wealth Management grew its stake in AGNC Investment by 94.5% during the 4th quarter. Spire Wealth Management now owns 4,059 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $37,000 after purchasing an additional 1,972 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other 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).