AGNC Investment (NASDAQ:AGNC) Trading Up 1% - What's Next?

AGNC Investment Corp. (NASDAQ:AGNC - Get Free Report) shares shot up 1% on Thursday . The stock traded as high as $8.43 and last traded at $8.39. 12,816,256 shares changed hands during mid-day trading, a decline of 31% from the average session volume of 18,522,822 shares. The stock had previously closed at $8.30.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several analysts recently commented on the stock. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reduced their target price on shares of AGNC Investment from $9.50 to $8.50 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a report on Wednesday. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods reduced 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. JMP Securities reiterated a "market perform" rating on shares of AGNC Investment in a research note on Thursday, January 23rd. Royal Bank of Canada restated an "outperform" rating and issued a $11.00 price target on shares of AGNC Investment in a research note on Thursday, January 30th. Finally, StockNews.com upgraded AGNC Investment from a "sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Tuesday, February 25th. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have given a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $10.36.

AGNC Investment Trading Up 0.5 %

The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.01, a quick ratio of 0.23 and a current ratio of 0.23. The company has a market capitalization of $7.63 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 8.60 and a beta of 1.32. The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $9.74 and a 200-day moving average price of $9.72.

AGNC Investment (NASDAQ:AGNC - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results 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%. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that AGNC Investment Corp. will post 1.61 EPS for the current year.

AGNC Investment Announces Dividend

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

Insider Activity

In other news, Director Frances Spark sold 5,000 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Wednesday, February 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $10.10, for a total transaction of $50,500.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 75,919 shares in the company, valued at approximately $766,781.90. This represents a 6.18 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, CFO Bernice Bell sold 13,000 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Thursday, January 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $10.04, for a total value of $130,520.00. Following the sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 372,226 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,737,149.04. This trade represents a 3.37 % 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

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in AGNC. Insigneo Advisory Services LLC lifted its stake in shares of AGNC Investment by 12.5% in the first quarter. Insigneo Advisory Services LLC now owns 13,761 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock worth $132,000 after acquiring an additional 1,529 shares during the period. Fortitude Advisory Group L.L.C. lifted its holdings in shares of AGNC Investment by 1.4% in the 1st quarter. Fortitude Advisory Group L.L.C. now owns 99,543 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock worth $954,000 after purchasing an additional 1,399 shares in the last quarter. QRG Capital Management Inc. increased its position in shares of AGNC Investment by 70.6% during the first quarter. QRG Capital Management Inc. now owns 53,368 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock worth $511,000 after acquiring an additional 22,081 shares in the last quarter. Sowell Financial Services LLC increased its holdings in AGNC Investment by 47.3% during the 1st quarter. Sowell Financial Services LLC now owns 80,478 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock worth $771,000 after purchasing an additional 25,850 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Janney Montgomery Scott LLC raised its position in AGNC Investment by 22.3% in the 1st quarter. Janney Montgomery Scott LLC now owns 249,127 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock valued at $2,387,000 after buying an additional 45,457 shares during the last quarter. 38.28% of the stock is currently owned by 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).