AGNC Investment (NASDAQ:AGNC) Trading Up 0.9% – Should You Buy?

Shares of AGNC Investment Corp. (NASDAQ:AGNC) shot up 0.9% during trading on Tuesday . The company traded as high as $9.25 and last traded at $9.23. 6,892,997 shares changed hands during trading, a decline of 66% from the average session volume of 20,117,760 shares. The stock had previously closed at $9.15.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities research analysts recently commented on AGNC shares. Wells Fargo & Company dropped their target price on AGNC Investment from $11.00 to $10.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, April 22nd. StockNews.com downgraded shares of AGNC Investment from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research report on Tuesday, May 6th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered their target price on AGNC Investment from $9.50 to $8.50 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, April 16th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods cut 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. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada cut their price target on shares of AGNC Investment from $11.00 to $10.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, April 29th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have given a hold rating and seven have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $9.96.

AGNC Investment Stock Performance

The stock has a 50-day moving average of $9.10 and a 200 day moving average of $9.53. The firm has a market capitalization of $9.43 billion, a P/E ratio of 9.52 and a beta of 1.30. 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 (NASDAQ:AGNC) last released its quarterly earnings results on Monday, April 21st. The real estate investment trust reported $0.44 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.41 by $0.03. The business had revenue of $846.00 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $436.71 million. AGNC Investment had a return on equity of 21.92% and a net margin of 29.26%. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted $0.58 earnings per share. On average, research analysts anticipate that AGNC Investment Corp. will post 1.61 earnings per share for the current year.

AGNC Investment Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a may 25 dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, June 10th. Stockholders of record on Friday, May 30th will be given a dividend of $0.12 per share. The ex-dividend date is Friday, May 30th. This represents a dividend yield of 16.2%. AGNC Investment’s payout ratio is currently 360.00%.

Insider Activity at AGNC Investment

In other news, Director Donna Blank sold 17,218 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, May 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $8.67, for a total value of $149,280.06. Following the transaction, the director now owns 90,345 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $783,291.15. This trade represents a 16.01% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, CEO Peter J. Federico sold 48,333 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, April 25th. The stock was sold at an average price of $8.70, for a total transaction of $420,497.10. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 1,691,421 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $14,715,362.70. This trade represents a 2.78% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 139,384 shares of company stock worth $1,228,039 over the last 90 days. Insiders own 0.42% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On AGNC Investment

Several large investors have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Fourth Dimension Wealth LLC acquired a new position in AGNC Investment in the fourth quarter valued at about $26,000. N.E.W. Advisory Services LLC bought a new stake in shares of AGNC Investment during the 1st quarter worth approximately $28,000. Financial Life Planners acquired a new stake in AGNC Investment in the fourth quarter valued at $28,000. Larson Financial Group LLC grew its holdings in AGNC Investment by 326.3% during the first quarter. Larson Financial Group LLC now owns 3,291 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $32,000 after purchasing an additional 2,519 shares during the period. Finally, National Bank of Canada FI boosted its stake 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. 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).