Keefe, Bruyette & Woods Cuts AGNC Investment (NASDAQ:AGNC) Price Target to $9.50

AGNC Investment (NASDAQ:AGNC) had its price target lowered by Keefe, Bruyette & Woods from $10.00 to $9.50 in a research report sent to investors on Wednesday morning, Benzinga reports. The firm currently has an outperform rating on the real estate investment trust’s stock.

Several other research firms have also issued reports on AGNC. Compass Point initiated coverage on AGNC Investment in a research report on Tuesday, February 20th. They set a buy rating and a $10.25 price target on the stock. StockNews.com raised AGNC Investment from a sell rating to a hold rating in a research report on Tuesday, March 12th. JMP Securities reissued a market perform rating on shares of AGNC Investment in a research report on Thursday, April 18th. Barclays upped their price target on AGNC Investment from $8.00 to $9.00 and gave the company an equal weight rating in a research report on Monday, January 22nd. Finally, Jonestrading dropped their target price on AGNC Investment from $10.75 to $10.25 and set a buy rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, April 23rd. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and four have given a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of Moderate Buy and an average price target of $9.79.

AGNC Investment Stock Performance

AGNC Investment stock opened at $9.33 on Wednesday. The stock has a market cap of $6.48 billion, a P/E ratio of 10.25 and a beta of 1.45. The company has a current ratio of 0.26, a quick ratio of 0.26 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.01. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $9.55 and a 200-day moving average of $9.26. AGNC Investment has a 52 week low of $6.81 and a 52 week high of $10.64.

AGNC Investment (NASDAQ:AGNC) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, April 23rd. The real estate investment trust reported $0.58 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.56 by $0.02. The company had revenue of $642.00 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $568.38 million. AGNC Investment had a return on equity of 27.92% and a net margin of 32.12%. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $0.70 EPS. On average, analysts expect that AGNC Investment will post 2.18 EPS for the current fiscal year.

AGNC Investment Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a apr 24 dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, May 9th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, April 30th will be given a $0.12 dividend. This represents a yield of 15.4%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, April 29th. AGNC Investment’s dividend payout ratio is presently 158.24%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, Director Frances Spark sold 5,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, April 24th. The stock was sold at an average price of $9.35, for a total transaction of $46,750.00. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 75,545 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $706,345.75. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. 0.52% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of large investors have recently modified their holdings of the business. Foster Victor Wealth Advisors LLC increased its holdings in shares of AGNC Investment by 4.9% during the first quarter. Foster Victor Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 37,009 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $348,000 after purchasing an additional 1,723 shares during the period. LifePro Asset Management increased its holdings in shares of AGNC Investment by 33.7% during the first quarter. LifePro Asset Management now owns 303,543 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $3,005,000 after purchasing an additional 76,468 shares during the period. Verity & Verity LLC acquired a new position in shares of AGNC Investment during the first quarter valued at $45,000. Bell Bank increased its holdings in shares of AGNC Investment by 1.5% during the first quarter. Bell Bank now owns 564,106 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $5,585,000 after purchasing an additional 8,601 shares during the period. Finally, Global Retirement Partners LLC increased its holdings in shares of AGNC Investment by 12.3% during the first quarter. Global Retirement Partners LLC now owns 11,303 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $112,000 after purchasing an additional 1,238 shares during the period. 38.28% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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).