AGNC Investment (NASDAQ:AGNC) Shares Up 0.7% Following Dividend Announcement

AGNC Investment Corp. (NASDAQ:AGNC) shares shot up 0.7% on Thursday following a dividend announcement from the company. The stock traded as high as $9.61 and last traded at $9.60. 2,554,368 shares were traded during mid-day trading, a decline of 78% from the average session volume of 11,710,838 shares. The stock had previously closed at $9.53.

The newly announced dividend which will be paid on Tuesday, June 11th. Shareholders of record on Friday, May 31st will be given a dividend of $0.12 per share. AGNC Investment’s payout ratio is currently 158.24%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities research analysts have recently weighed in on AGNC shares. StockNews.com upgraded shares of AGNC Investment from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday, March 12th. Jonestrading cut their price target on AGNC Investment from $10.75 to $10.25 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, April 23rd. Royal Bank of Canada dropped their price objective on shares of AGNC Investment from $11.00 to $10.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, January 25th. JMP Securities restated a “market perform” rating on shares of AGNC Investment in a research note on Thursday, April 18th. Finally, Barclays increased their price target on shares of AGNC Investment from $8.00 to $9.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Monday, January 22nd. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and four have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $9.79.

AGNC Investment Stock Up 0.4 %

The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.01, a quick ratio of 0.26 and a current ratio of 0.26. The firm’s 50-day moving average is $9.53 and its 200 day moving average is $9.30. The firm has a market capitalization of $6.65 billion, a PE ratio of 10.55 and a beta of 1.45.

AGNC Investment (NASDAQ:AGNC) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, April 23rd. The real estate investment trust reported $0.58 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.56 by $0.02. The business had revenue of $642.00 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $568.38 million. AGNC Investment had a net margin of 32.12% and a return on equity of 27.92%. During the same period last year, the company posted $0.70 EPS. As a group, research analysts forecast that AGNC Investment Corp. will post 2.1 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity at AGNC Investment

In other AGNC Investment news, Director Paul E. Mullings sold 5,400 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, May 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $9.40, for a total value of $50,760.00. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 111,827 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,051,173.80. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. In other news, CFO Bernice Bell sold 3,500 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, May 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $9.32, for a total transaction of $32,620.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer now owns 309,973 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,888,948.36. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, Director Paul E. Mullings sold 5,400 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, May 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $9.40, for a total transaction of $50,760.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now owns 111,827 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,051,173.80. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 15,900 shares of company stock valued at $149,030 over the last quarter. Insiders own 0.43% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On AGNC Investment

Hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. SG Americas Securities LLC grew its position in AGNC Investment by 136.4% during the third quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC now owns 27,950 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $264,000 after acquiring an additional 16,125 shares during the period. Xponance Inc. boosted its stake in AGNC Investment by 71.9% during the 3rd quarter. Xponance Inc. now owns 34,191 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $323,000 after acquiring an additional 14,304 shares during the last quarter. Raymond James & Associates increased its position in shares of AGNC Investment by 1.1% in the 3rd quarter. Raymond James & Associates now owns 1,078,421 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $10,180,000 after purchasing an additional 11,459 shares during the last quarter. Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank raised its stake in shares of AGNC Investment by 20.3% in the 3rd quarter. Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank now owns 116,115 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $1,096,000 after purchasing an additional 19,599 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Strs Ohio lifted its position in shares of AGNC Investment by 48.4% during the third quarter. Strs Ohio now owns 248,415 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $2,345,000 after purchasing an additional 81,059 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds 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).