AGNC Investment (NASDAQ:AGNC) Stock Gets Downgrade from Wall Street Zen

AGNC Investment (NASDAQ:AGNC) was downgraded by investment analysts at Wall Street Zen from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research note issued to investors on Saturday, Wall Street Zen reports.

Other research analysts have also recently issued reports about the company. Compass Point cut AGNC Investment from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $11.50 target price for the company. in a research note on Friday, July 17th. Piper Sandler reduced their price objective on shares of AGNC Investment from $12.00 to $10.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, October 9th. Wells Fargo & Company reduced their price objective on shares of AGNC Investment from $12.00 to $11.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, July 23rd. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods decreased their price objective on shares of AGNC Investment from $12.00 to $11.00 and set a “market perform” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, July 22nd. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. reiterated a “neutral” rating and set a $11.50 target price (up from $11.00) on shares of AGNC Investment in a research note on Friday, July 17th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and eight have issued a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $10.89.

AGNC Investment Price Performance

NASDAQ:AGNC opened at $8.72 on Friday. The company has a fifty day simple moving average of $10.01 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $10.41. The company has a market cap of $10.34 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 4.59 and a beta of 1.36. AGNC Investment has a 52 week low of $8.41 and a 52 week high of $12.19.

AGNC Investment (NASDAQ:AGNC) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Monday, July 20th. The real estate investment trust reported $0.40 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.38 by $0.02. The business had revenue of $305.00 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.06 billion. AGNC Investment had a return on equity of 17.96% and a net margin of 57.94%. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned ($0.17) earnings per share. On average, analysts expect that AGNC Investment will post 1.60 EPS for the current year.

Insider Buying and Selling at AGNC Investment

In other news, EVP Bernice Bell sold 5,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, July 28th. The shares were sold at an average price of $11.00, for a total value of $55,000.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president owned 406,947 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,476,417. This represents a 1.21% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Corporate insiders own 0.40% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On AGNC Investment

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. BlackRock Inc. purchased a new stake in AGNC Investment in the 2nd quarter valued at $704,076,000. VIRGINIA RETIREMENT SYSTEMS ET Al acquired a new stake in AGNC Investment during the 2nd quarter worth $4,062,000. QRG Capital Management Inc. grew its position in AGNC Investment by 921.8% during the 1st quarter. QRG Capital Management Inc. now owns 570,650 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $5,724,000 after purchasing an additional 514,804 shares during the last quarter. Public Employees Retirement System of Ohio purchased a new position in AGNC Investment during the 2nd quarter worth $3,560,000. Finally, Legal & General Group Plc purchased a new position in AGNC Investment during the 2nd quarter worth $10,884,000. 38.28% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

AGNC Investment Company Profile

AGNC Investment Corp. is an internally managed real estate investment trust that invests primarily in agency residential mortgage-backed securities. Its portfolio generally includes mortgage pass-through securities and collateralized mortgage obligations issued or guaranteed by Fannie Mae, Freddie Mac, or Ginnie Mae. Because these securities carry government or government-sponsored enterprise backing, the company’s investment strategy focuses on interest-rate and prepayment risks rather than traditional residential credit risk.

AGNC finances its investments largely through repurchase agreements and uses interest-rate swaps, swaptions, and other hedging instruments to manage exposure to changing interest rates and funding costs.