AGNC Investment (NASDAQ:AGNC) Shares Down 2% - Should You Sell?

AGNC Investment Corp. (NASDAQ:AGNC - Get Free Report) shares fell 2% during mid-day trading on Friday . The stock traded as low as $9.54 and last traded at $9.57. 9,647,835 shares changed hands during trading, a decline of 41% from the average session volume of 16,452,458 shares. The stock had previously closed at $9.76.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

AGNC has been the subject of a number of recent research reports. StockNews.com upgraded AGNC Investment from a "sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Tuesday, February 25th. Royal Bank of Canada reiterated an "outperform" rating and set a $11.00 target price on shares of AGNC Investment in a research report on Thursday, January 30th. Wells Fargo & Company lowered their price objective on shares of AGNC Investment from $12.00 to $11.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, January 30th. Argus raised AGNC Investment to a "hold" rating in a report on Tuesday, February 4th. Finally, JMP Securities reiterated a "market perform" rating on shares of AGNC Investment in a research note on Thursday, January 23rd. Four analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $10.50.

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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 firm has a market capitalization of $8.77 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 9.88 and a beta of 1.50. The stock's 50 day moving average price is $10.14 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $9.91.

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

AGNC Investment Announces Dividend

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

Insider Buying and Selling at AGNC Investment

In related news, Director Frances Spark sold 5,000 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, February 5th. The shares were 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 of the company's stock, valued at approximately $766,781.90. This trade represents a 6.18 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, CFO Bernice Bell sold 13,000 shares of the 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 transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 372,226 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,737,149.04. This represents a 3.37 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.42% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On AGNC Investment

Several institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the business. California State Teachers Retirement System boosted its position in AGNC Investment by 5.4% during the 4th quarter. California State Teachers Retirement System now owns 734,414 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock worth $6,764,000 after purchasing an additional 37,683 shares during the period. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC boosted its position in shares of AGNC Investment by 96.4% in the fourth quarter. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC now owns 110,113 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock worth $1,014,000 after buying an additional 54,049 shares during the period. Jefferies Financial Group Inc. boosted its position in shares of AGNC Investment by 19.6% in the fourth quarter. Jefferies Financial Group Inc. now owns 49,433 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock worth $455,000 after buying an additional 8,103 shares during the period. AlphaCore Capital LLC raised its holdings in shares of AGNC Investment by 176.2% during the 4th quarter. AlphaCore Capital LLC now owns 69,946 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock valued at $653,000 after buying an additional 44,624 shares during the period. Finally, Kingstone Capital Partners Texas LLC acquired a new position in AGNC Investment during the 4th quarter worth approximately $169,000. 38.28% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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).