AGNC Investment (NASDAQ:AGNC) Stock Price Up 1.1% - Still a Buy?

AGNC Investment Corp. (NASDAQ:AGNC - Get Free Report) shot up 1.1% during trading on Thursday . The company traded as high as $9.87 and last traded at $9.87. 5,629,858 shares changed hands during trading, a decline of 66% from the average session volume of 16,362,967 shares. The stock had previously closed at $9.76.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research firms have commented on AGNC. StockNews.com raised shares of AGNC Investment from a "sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Tuesday, February 25th. Wells Fargo & Company lowered their price target 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. Argus raised AGNC Investment to a "hold" rating in a research note on Tuesday, February 4th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered their target price on AGNC Investment from $10.00 to $9.50 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a research note on Monday, December 9th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada reaffirmed an "outperform" rating and issued a $11.00 price target on shares of AGNC Investment in a research note on Thursday, January 30th. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have issued a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $10.50.

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AGNC Investment Trading Down 2.5 %

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 cap of $8.72 billion, a PE ratio of 9.81 and a beta of 1.50. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $10.14 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $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 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts' consensus estimates of $0.42 by ($0.05). AGNC Investment had a return on equity of 21.92% and a net margin of 29.26%. Equities analysts forecast that AGNC Investment Corp. will post 1.61 EPS for the current year.

AGNC Investment Dividend Announcement

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

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, CFO Bernice Bell sold 13,000 shares of the company'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 value of $130,520.00. Following the sale, the chief financial officer now owns 372,226 shares in the company, valued at $3,737,149.04. This represents a 3.37 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, Director Frances Spark sold 5,000 shares of AGNC Investment stock in a transaction 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 transaction, the director now 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. 0.42% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Barclays PLC lifted its position in AGNC Investment by 4.8% in the 3rd quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 1,552,969 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock valued at $16,242,000 after acquiring an additional 71,330 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC raised its position in AGNC Investment by 2.0% in the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 12,303,616 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock worth $128,730,000 after buying an additional 242,640 shares during the last quarter. Howard Financial Services LTD. lifted its stake in AGNC Investment by 195.2% during the 4th quarter. Howard Financial Services LTD. now owns 53,834 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock valued at $496,000 after acquiring an additional 35,598 shares during the period. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of AGNC Investment by 8.6% during the 4th quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 7,349,657 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock valued at $67,690,000 after acquiring an additional 581,352 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Franklin Resources Inc. raised its holdings in shares of AGNC Investment by 35.8% during the third quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 584,370 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock valued at $6,060,000 after purchasing an additional 154,029 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors 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).