AGNC Investment (NASDAQ:AGNC) Trading Up 0.7% – Still a Buy?

Shares of AGNC Investment Corp. (NASDAQ:AGNC) shot up 0.7% on Tuesday . The company traded as high as $10.02 and last traded at $10.02. 3,699,136 shares changed hands during mid-day trading, a decline of 81% from the average session volume of 19,240,605 shares. The stock had previously closed at $9.95.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research firms recently commented on AGNC. JMP Securities reaffirmed a “market perform” rating on shares of AGNC Investment in a report on Thursday, January 23rd. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods dropped their price objective on shares of AGNC Investment from $10.75 to $10.25 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, January 29th. Royal Bank of Canada reiterated an “outperform” rating and issued a $11.00 price objective on shares of AGNC Investment in a research note on Thursday, January 30th. StockNews.com lowered shares of AGNC Investment from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a report on Saturday, October 19th. Finally, 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 research report on Monday, December 9th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have given 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 an average price target of $10.50.

AGNC Investment Price Performance

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 stock has a 50-day moving average price of $9.53 and a 200 day moving average price of $9.88. The stock has a market capitalization of $8.91 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 10.38 and a beta of 1.48.

AGNC Investment (NASDAQ:AGNC) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Monday, January 27th. The real estate investment trust reported $0.37 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.42 by ($0.05). AGNC Investment had a net margin of 29.26% and a return on equity of 21.92%. As a group, equities research analysts expect that AGNC Investment Corp. will post 1.61 earnings per share for the current year.

AGNC Investment Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a jan 25 dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, February 11th. Stockholders of record on Friday, January 31st will be given a $0.12 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Friday, January 31st. This represents a dividend yield of 15.5%. AGNC Investment’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 148.46%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, CFO Bernice Bell sold 13,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on 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 transaction, 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 transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Insiders own 0.43% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On AGNC Investment

A number of large investors have recently modified their holdings of the business. Vaughan Nelson Investment Management L.P. increased its position in AGNC Investment by 200.5% during the third quarter. Vaughan Nelson Investment Management L.P. now owns 14,446,725 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $151,113,000 after purchasing an additional 9,639,675 shares during the last quarter. Natixis Advisors LLC raised its position in shares of AGNC Investment by 314.8% during the 3rd quarter. Natixis Advisors LLC now owns 3,842,814 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $40,196,000 after buying an additional 2,916,345 shares during the period. ORG Wealth Partners LLC acquired a new position in AGNC Investment in the third quarter valued at approximately $17,463,000. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC grew its position in AGNC Investment by 115.0% in the third quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC now owns 1,912,694 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $20,007,000 after acquiring an additional 1,023,275 shares during the period. Finally, International Assets Investment Management LLC increased its stake in AGNC Investment by 945.2% during the third quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 1,072,039 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $102,489,000 after acquiring an additional 969,475 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).