GraniteShares Advisors LLC Purchases Shares of 268,168 AGNC Investment Corp. (NASDAQ:AGNC)

GraniteShares Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in AGNC Investment Corp. (NASDAQ:AGNC) during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund purchased 268,168 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock, valued at approximately $2,470,000. AGNC Investment accounts for about 1.6% of GraniteShares Advisors LLC’s holdings, making the stock its 21st biggest holding.

Several other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. PL Capital Advisors LLC lifted its stake in AGNC Investment by 821.0% in the fourth quarter. PL Capital Advisors LLC now owns 5,464,956 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $50,332,000 after buying an additional 4,871,584 shares during the period. Illinois Municipal Retirement Fund acquired a new position in AGNC Investment in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $1,463,000. Amalgamated Bank increased its holdings in shares of AGNC Investment by 6.5% during the fourth quarter. Amalgamated Bank now owns 41,477 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $382,000 after acquiring an additional 2,531 shares in the last quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp increased its holdings in shares of AGNC Investment by 12.6% during the fourth quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 2,811,514 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $25,894,000 after acquiring an additional 314,900 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Genesis Wealth Advisors LLC bought a new stake in shares of AGNC Investment during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $129,000. 38.28% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

AGNC has been the subject of several recent research reports. StockNews.com upgraded AGNC Investment from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday. Wells Fargo & Company decreased their price objective on AGNC Investment from $12.00 to $11.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, January 30th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. decreased their price objective on AGNC Investment from $10.00 to $9.50 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Monday, December 9th. Argus upgraded AGNC Investment to a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday, February 4th. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods decreased their price objective on AGNC Investment from $10.75 to $10.25 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, January 29th. Four analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have given a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $10.50.

AGNC Investment Stock Performance

Shares of AGNC opened at $10.53 on Wednesday. The stock’s 50-day simple moving average is $9.76 and its 200 day simple moving average is $9.91. The stock has a market capitalization of $9.32 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 10.85 and a beta of 1.48. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.01, a quick ratio of 0.23 and a current ratio of 0.23. AGNC Investment Corp. has a 52-week low of $8.92 and a 52-week high of $10.85.

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

AGNC Investment Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a feb 25 dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, March 11th. Investors of record on Friday, February 28th will be issued a dividend of $0.12 per share. The ex-dividend date is Friday, February 28th. This represents a yield of 13.8%. AGNC Investment’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 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 stock was 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 through this hyperlink. Also, Director Frances Spark sold 5,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, February 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $10.10, for a total value of $50,500.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 75,919 shares in the company, valued at $766,781.90. This represents a 6.18 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Corporate insiders own 0.43% 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).