AGNC Investment (NASDAQ:AGNC) Shares Down 1% – Time to Sell?

Shares of AGNC Investment Corp. (NASDAQ:AGNC) dropped 1% during mid-day trading on Tuesday . The stock traded as low as $9.96 and last traded at $10.03. Approximately 6,480,223 shares changed hands during mid-day trading, a decline of 69% from the average daily volume of 21,062,393 shares. The stock had previously closed at $10.13.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research firms recently commented on AGNC. StockNews.com upgraded AGNC Investment from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday, February 25th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods decreased their price objective on AGNC Investment from $10.75 to $10.25 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, January 29th. JMP Securities reissued a “market perform” rating on shares of AGNC Investment in a report on Thursday, January 23rd. Wells Fargo & Company decreased their price target on shares of AGNC Investment from $12.00 to $11.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, January 30th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada reissued an “outperform” rating and issued a $11.00 price objective on shares of AGNC Investment in a research note on Thursday, January 30th. Four analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have given a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $10.50.

AGNC Investment Stock Down 0.1 %

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 fifty day moving average price is $10.14 and its 200-day moving average price is $9.92. The stock has a market cap of $8.93 billion, a P/E ratio of 10.06 and a beta of 1.50.

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

AGNC Investment Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a mar 25 dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, April 9th. Investors of record on Monday, March 31st will be issued a dividend of $0.12 per share. This represents a yield of 14.1%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, March 31st. AGNC Investment’s payout ratio is currently 148.45%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other AGNC Investment news, CFO Bernice Bell sold 13,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, January 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $10.04, for a total value of $130,520.00. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 372,226 shares in the company, valued at $3,737,149.04. This represents a 3.37 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, Director Frances Spark sold 5,000 shares of AGNC Investment stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, February 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $10.10, for a total transaction of $50,500.00. Following the sale, the director now directly owns 75,919 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $766,781.90. This represents a 6.18 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders own 0.42% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of AGNC. Hsbc Holdings PLC grew its position in shares of AGNC Investment by 5.6% during the 4th quarter. Hsbc Holdings PLC now owns 18,259 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $168,000 after buying an additional 970 shares in the last quarter. CIBC Asset Management Inc grew its holdings in AGNC Investment by 5.3% during the 4th quarter. CIBC Asset Management Inc now owns 21,428 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $197,000 after acquiring an additional 1,075 shares in the last quarter. Armstrong Advisory Group Inc. increased its position in AGNC Investment by 6.6% during the 4th quarter. Armstrong Advisory Group Inc. now owns 18,505 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $170,000 after purchasing an additional 1,150 shares during the period. Garden State Investment Advisory Services LLC raised its holdings in shares of AGNC Investment by 10.0% in the 3rd quarter. Garden State Investment Advisory Services LLC now owns 12,947 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $135,000 after purchasing an additional 1,176 shares in the last quarter. Finally, CoreCap Advisors LLC raised its holdings in shares of AGNC Investment by 34.8% in the 4th quarter. CoreCap Advisors LLC now owns 4,765 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $44,000 after purchasing an additional 1,229 shares in the last quarter. 38.28% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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).