AGNC Investment (NASDAQ:AGNC) Shares Up 0.6% – Time to Buy?

AGNC Investment Corp. (NASDAQ:AGNC)’s stock price rose 0.6% on Monday . The stock traded as high as $9.65 and last traded at $9.61. Approximately 17,680,213 shares were traded during mid-day trading, an increase of 12% from the average daily volume of 15,758,488 shares. The stock had previously closed at $9.55.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several analysts have issued reports on the stock. JPMorgan Chase & Co. dropped 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 report on Monday, December 9th. StockNews.com lowered shares of AGNC Investment from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research note on Saturday, October 19th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have given a hold rating and seven have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $10.44.

AGNC Investment Stock Performance

The stock’s 50 day moving average is $9.50 and its 200 day moving average is $9.90. The company has a current ratio of 0.23, a quick ratio of 0.23 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.01. The firm has a market cap of $8.62 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 6.76 and a beta of 1.47.

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

AGNC Investment Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a jan 25 dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, February 11th. Stockholders of record on Friday, January 31st will be issued a dividend of $0.12 per share. This represents a dividend yield of 15.5%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, January 31st. AGNC Investment’s dividend payout ratio is currently 100.00%.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On AGNC Investment

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the business. Firethorn Wealth Partners LLC grew its position in AGNC Investment by 5.1% during the fourth quarter. Firethorn Wealth Partners LLC now owns 76,995 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $709,000 after buying an additional 3,735 shares in the last quarter. Avior Wealth Management LLC lifted its position in shares of AGNC Investment by 413.8% during the 4th quarter. Avior Wealth Management LLC now owns 8,853 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $82,000 after acquiring an additional 7,130 shares during the period. Janney Montgomery Scott LLC increased its position in shares of AGNC Investment by 5.2% in the fourth quarter. Janney Montgomery Scott LLC now owns 203,670 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $1,876,000 after purchasing an additional 10,031 shares during the period. SG Americas Securities LLC acquired a new position in AGNC Investment in the fourth quarter valued at about $1,913,000. Finally, Magnus Financial Group LLC raised its stake in AGNC Investment by 189.2% in the fourth quarter. Magnus Financial Group LLC now owns 30,885 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $284,000 after purchasing an additional 20,206 shares in the last quarter. 38.28% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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).