AGNC Investment (NASDAQ:AGNC) Stock Price Up 1.8% – Time to Buy?

Shares of AGNC Investment Corp. (NASDAQ:AGNC) were up 1.8% during trading on Thursday . The stock traded as high as $9.38 and last traded at $9.38. Approximately 7,467,179 shares traded hands during trading, a decline of 48% from the average daily volume of 14,317,139 shares. The stock had previously closed at $9.21.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of analysts have recently commented on AGNC shares. JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut their price target on AGNC Investment from $10.00 to $9.50 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, December 9th. Wells Fargo & Company raised AGNC Investment from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and upped their price target for the stock from $10.00 to $12.00 in a research report on Friday, September 20th. Finally, StockNews.com downgraded shares of AGNC Investment from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a report on Saturday, October 19th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have assigned a hold rating and seven have issued a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $10.44.

AGNC Investment Stock Performance

The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.01, a quick ratio of 0.23 and a current ratio of 0.23. The company’s 50 day moving average price is $9.55 and its 200-day moving average price is $9.93. The company has a market cap of $8.21 billion, a PE ratio of 6.44 and a beta of 1.47.

AGNC Investment (NASDAQ:AGNC) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Monday, October 21st. The real estate investment trust reported $0.43 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.47 by ($0.04). AGNC Investment had a net margin of 42.19% and a return on equity of 23.41%. The company had revenue of $756.00 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $219.50 million. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $0.65 earnings per share. Equities research analysts anticipate that AGNC Investment Corp. will post 1.94 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

AGNC Investment Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a dec 24 dividend, which will be paid on Friday, January 10th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, December 31st will be issued a $0.12 dividend. This represents a yield of 15.1%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, December 31st. AGNC Investment’s payout ratio is 100.00%.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On AGNC Investment

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the business. Bank of New York Mellon Corp raised its holdings in shares of AGNC Investment by 8.4% in the 2nd quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 2,435,422 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $23,234,000 after acquiring an additional 187,949 shares in the last quarter. Signaturefd LLC grew its stake in AGNC Investment by 23.4% in the 2nd quarter. Signaturefd LLC now owns 8,355 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $80,000 after buying an additional 1,582 shares in the last quarter. Rothschild Investment LLC bought a new position in shares of AGNC Investment in the 2nd quarter worth $88,000. Commonwealth Equity Services LLC raised its position in shares of AGNC Investment by 27.9% during the 2nd quarter. Commonwealth Equity Services LLC now owns 596,924 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $5,695,000 after buying an additional 130,134 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Natixis Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in shares of AGNC Investment by 1.7% during the 2nd quarter. Natixis Advisors LLC now owns 926,469 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $8,838,000 after acquiring an additional 15,802 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).