AGNC Investment (NASDAQ:AGNC) Trading 0.8% Higher Following Dividend Announcement

AGNC Investment Corp. (NASDAQ:AGNC) traded up 0.8% on Thursday following a dividend announcement from the company. The stock traded as high as $10.29 and last traded at $10.27. 6,028,772 shares traded hands during trading, a decline of 68% from the average session volume of 19,000,322 shares. The stock had previously closed at $10.18.

The newly announced dividend which will be paid on Tuesday, March 11th. Shareholders of record on Friday, February 28th will be paid a $0.12 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, February 28th. This represents a yield of 13.8%. AGNC Investment’s payout ratio is currently 148.46%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities research analysts have issued reports on the stock. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered 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 note on Monday, December 9th. Wells Fargo & Company lowered 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. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods lowered their price objective on shares of AGNC Investment from $10.75 to $10.25 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, January 29th. Royal Bank of Canada restated an “outperform” rating and set a $11.00 price objective on shares of AGNC Investment in a research note on Thursday, January 30th. Finally, StockNews.com lowered shares of AGNC Investment from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research note 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 assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $10.50.

AGNC Investment Stock Performance

The firm has a market cap of $9.24 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 10.75 and a beta of 1.48. The stock’s 50 day moving average is $9.63 and its 200 day moving average is $9.89. The company has a current ratio of 0.23, a quick ratio of 0.23 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.01.

AGNC Investment (NASDAQ:AGNC) last announced its quarterly earnings results 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%. Analysts anticipate that AGNC Investment Corp. will post 1.61 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Buying and Selling at AGNC Investment

In other AGNC Investment news, Director Frances Spark sold 5,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, February 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $10.10, for a total value of $50,500.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now owns 75,919 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $766,781.90. The trade was a 6.18 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, CFO Bernice Bell sold 13,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, January 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $10.04, for a total transaction of $130,520.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 372,226 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,737,149.04. This represents a 3.37 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders own 0.52% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of AGNC Investment

Institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the business. Riverview Trust Co bought a new stake in shares of AGNC Investment during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $25,000. Financial Life Planners bought a new stake in shares of AGNC Investment during the 4th quarter worth approximately $28,000. Point72 Asset Management L.P. bought a new stake in shares of AGNC Investment during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $32,000. National Bank of Canada FI lifted its holdings in shares of AGNC Investment by 112.7% during the 4th quarter. National Bank of Canada FI now owns 3,458 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $32,000 after acquiring an additional 1,832 shares during the period. Finally, Blue Trust Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of AGNC Investment by 315.9% during the 3rd quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 3,905 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $37,000 after acquiring an additional 2,966 shares during the period. Institutional investors 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).