AGNC Investment Corp. (NASDAQ:AGNC) Short Interest Update

AGNC Investment Corp. (NASDAQ:AGNC - Get Free Report) saw a large growth in short interest in the month of March. As of March 31st, there was short interest totalling 58,040,000 shares, a growth of 24.6% from the March 15th total of 46,570,000 shares. Approximately 6.6% of the shares of the company are sold short. Based on an average trading volume of 24,930,000 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is currently 2.3 days.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities research analysts recently weighed in on AGNC shares. Royal Bank of Canada reaffirmed an "outperform" rating and set a $11.00 price target on shares of AGNC Investment in a report on Thursday, January 30th. StockNews.com raised AGNC Investment from a "sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Tuesday, February 25th. Argus raised AGNC Investment to a "hold" rating in a report on Tuesday, February 4th. JMP Securities reaffirmed a "market perform" rating on shares of AGNC Investment in a report on Thursday, January 23rd. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. dropped their price target on AGNC Investment from $9.50 to $8.50 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, April 16th. Four analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have issued a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, AGNC Investment currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $10.13.

AGNC Investment Trading Up 2.7 %

Shares of NASDAQ:AGNC traded up $0.23 during mid-day trading on Wednesday, reaching $8.68. The stock had a trading volume of 3,971,238 shares, compared to its average volume of 18,835,728. The firm has a market cap of $7.95 billion, a PE ratio of 8.95 and a beta of 1.32. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $9.66 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $9.69. 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 has a twelve month low of $7.85 and a twelve month high of $10.85.

AGNC Investment (NASDAQ:AGNC - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Monday, April 21st. The real estate investment trust reported $0.44 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $0.41 by $0.03. The business had revenue of $846.00 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $436.71 million. AGNC Investment had a net margin of 29.26% and a return on equity of 21.92%. During the same period last year, the company posted $0.58 EPS. On average, research analysts predict that AGNC Investment will post 1.61 EPS for the current fiscal year.

AGNC Investment Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a apr 25 dividend, which will be paid on Friday, May 9th. Investors of record on Wednesday, April 30th will be given a $0.12 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, April 30th. This represents a dividend yield of 17.7%. AGNC Investment's dividend payout ratio is 148.45%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, CFO Bernice Bell sold 13,000 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, January 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $10.04, for a total transaction of $130,520.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer now owns 372,226 shares in the company, valued at $3,737,149.04. This trade represents a 3.37 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, Director Frances Spark sold 5,000 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred 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 transaction, the director now owns 75,919 shares of the company's stock, valued at $766,781.90. This trade represents a 6.18 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Corporate insiders own 0.42% of the company's stock.

Institutional Trading of AGNC Investment

A number of hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the company. Fourth Dimension Wealth LLC bought a new stake in AGNC Investment during the 4th quarter worth approximately $26,000. Financial Life Planners bought a new stake in AGNC Investment during the 4th quarter worth approximately $28,000. National Bank of Canada FI increased its stake in 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 purchasing an additional 1,832 shares in the last quarter. Spire Wealth Management increased its stake in AGNC Investment by 94.5% during the 4th quarter. Spire Wealth Management now owns 4,059 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock worth $37,000 after purchasing an additional 1,972 shares in the last quarter. Finally, CoreCap Advisors LLC increased its stake in AGNC Investment by 34.8% during the 4th quarter. CoreCap Advisors LLC now owns 4,765 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock worth $44,000 after purchasing an additional 1,229 shares in the last quarter. 38.28% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

AGNC Investment Company Profile

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).