AGNC Investment (NASDAQ:AGNC) Trading Up 1.1% - Here's Why

Shares of AGNC Investment Corp. (NASDAQ:AGNC - Get Free Report) were up 1.1% during trading on Monday . The company traded as high as $10.45 and last traded at $10.43. Approximately 19,562,474 shares traded hands during mid-day trading, an increase of 2% from the average daily volume of 19,267,572 shares. The stock had previously closed at $10.32.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of analysts recently commented on AGNC shares. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods lowered their target price on shares of AGNC Investment from $10.75 to $10.25 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, January 29th. Royal Bank of Canada restated an "outperform" rating and set a $11.00 price objective on shares of AGNC Investment in a research note on Thursday, January 30th. Wells Fargo & Company decreased their price objective on shares of AGNC Investment from $12.00 to $11.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, January 30th. JMP Securities restated a "market perform" rating on shares of AGNC Investment in a research note on Thursday, January 23rd. Finally, Argus upgraded shares of AGNC Investment to a "hold" rating in a research note on Tuesday, February 4th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have issued a hold rating and seven have given a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, AGNC Investment currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $10.50.

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AGNC Investment Stock Performance

The stock has a market capitalization of $9.33 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 10.86 and a beta of 1.48. The firm's 50 day moving average is $9.70 and its 200-day moving average is $9.90. 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 - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly 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 return on equity of 21.92% and a net margin of 29.26%. Analysts forecast that AGNC Investment Corp. will post 1.61 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

AGNC Investment Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a feb 25 dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, March 11th. Investors of record on Friday, February 28th will be issued a $0.12 dividend. This represents a yield of 13.8%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, February 28th. AGNC Investment's payout ratio is presently 148.46%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, CFO Bernice Bell sold 13,000 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Thursday, January 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $10.04, for a total transaction of $130,520.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer now owns 372,226 shares of the company's stock, valued at $3,737,149.04. This represents a 3.37 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, Director Frances Spark sold 5,000 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Wednesday, February 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $10.10, for a total transaction of $50,500.00. Following the sale, the director now directly owns 75,919 shares of the company's stock, valued at $766,781.90. The trade was a 6.18 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.52% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the company. Fourth Dimension Wealth LLC acquired a new position in shares of AGNC Investment during the 4th quarter valued at about $26,000. Financial Life Planners acquired a new position in shares of AGNC Investment during the 4th quarter valued at about $28,000. Point72 Asset Management L.P. acquired a new position in AGNC Investment in the third quarter valued at about $32,000. National Bank of Canada FI lifted its position in AGNC Investment by 112.7% in the fourth quarter. National Bank of Canada FI now owns 3,458 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock valued at $32,000 after buying an additional 1,832 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Blue Trust Inc. lifted its position in AGNC Investment by 315.9% in the third quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 3,905 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock valued at $37,000 after buying an additional 2,966 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 38.28% of the company's stock.

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).