AGNC Investment (NASDAQ:AGNC) Stock Price Down 0.8% – What’s Next?

AGNC Investment Corp. (NASDAQ:AGNC)’s share price dropped 0.8% during mid-day trading on Wednesday . The company traded as low as $9.80 and last traded at $9.86. Approximately 9,094,912 shares traded hands during mid-day trading, a decline of 44% from the average daily volume of 16,277,028 shares. The stock had previously closed at $9.93.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

AGNC has been the topic of a number of recent analyst reports. JMP Securities reissued a “market perform” rating on shares of AGNC Investment in a research report on Thursday, January 23rd. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods decreased their price target on AGNC Investment from $10.75 to $10.25 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, January 29th. StockNews.com upgraded AGNC Investment from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday, February 25th. Royal Bank of Canada restated an “outperform” rating and set a $11.00 target price on shares of AGNC Investment in a research note on Thursday, January 30th. Finally, Argus upgraded shares of AGNC Investment to a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday, February 4th. Four analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have issued a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $10.50.

AGNC Investment Stock 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 market cap of $8.93 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 10.08 and a beta of 1.50. The stock’s 50 day moving average is $10.13 and its two-hundred day moving average is $9.92.

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 the consensus estimate 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 fiscal year.

AGNC Investment Announces Dividend

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

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, Director Frances Spark sold 5,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, February 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $10.10, for a total value of $50,500.00. Following the sale, the director now directly 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 sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, CFO Bernice Bell sold 13,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, January 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $10.04, for a total transaction of $130,520.00. Following the sale, 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 ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.42% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On AGNC Investment

Institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the company. Fourth Dimension Wealth LLC acquired a new position in AGNC Investment in the 4th quarter valued at $26,000. Financial Life Planners acquired a new position in AGNC Investment in the fourth quarter valued at $28,000. Point72 Asset Management L.P. purchased a new position in AGNC Investment during the third quarter worth about $32,000. National Bank of Canada FI boosted its stake in AGNC Investment by 112.7% in 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 buying an additional 1,832 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Spire Wealth Management grew its holdings in AGNC Investment by 94.5% in the 4th quarter. Spire Wealth Management now owns 4,059 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $37,000 after buying an additional 1,972 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds 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).