AGNC Investment (NASDAQ:AGNC) Shares Up 0.4% - Time to Buy?

Shares of AGNC Investment Corp. (NASDAQ:AGNC - Get Free Report) traded up 0.4% on Friday . The stock traded as high as $10.62 and last traded at $10.58. 6,011,965 shares changed hands during trading, a decline of 68% from the average session volume of 18,810,559 shares. The stock had previously closed at $10.53.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research analysts have recently weighed in on the stock. JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut their price objective on shares of AGNC Investment from $10.00 to $9.50 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a report on Monday, December 9th. Wells Fargo & Company cut their price objective on shares of AGNC Investment from $12.00 to $11.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, January 30th. Royal Bank of Canada reiterated an "outperform" rating and set a $11.00 price objective on shares of AGNC Investment in a report on Thursday, January 30th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods cut their price objective on shares of AGNC Investment from $10.75 to $10.25 and set an "outperform" rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, January 29th. Finally, Argus raised shares of AGNC Investment to a "hold" rating in a research report 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 stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $10.50.

AGNC Investment Stock Performance

The stock's 50-day moving average is $9.74 and its 200-day moving average is $9.91. The stock has a market cap of $9.29 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 10.81 and a beta of 1.48. The company has a current ratio of 0.23, a quick ratio of 0.23 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.01.

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AGNC Investment (NASDAQ:AGNC - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Monday, January 27th. The real estate investment trust reported $0.37 earnings per share (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%. On average, analysts expect that AGNC Investment Corp. will post 1.61 EPS for the current year.

AGNC Investment Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a feb 25 dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, March 11th. Shareholders of record on Friday, February 28th will be given a $0.12 dividend. This represents a yield of 13.8%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, February 28th. AGNC Investment's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 148.46%.

Insider Buying and Selling at AGNC Investment

In other 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 transaction of $50,500.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now 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 filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, 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 sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 372,226 shares of the company's stock, valued at $3,737,149.04. The trade was a 3.37 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.52% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On AGNC Investment

Large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. lifted its stake in AGNC Investment by 2.5% during the third quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 6,768,305 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock worth $70,796,000 after purchasing an additional 162,152 shares during the last quarter. Vaughan Nelson Investment Management L.P. lifted its stake in AGNC Investment by 200.5% during the third quarter. Vaughan Nelson Investment Management L.P. now owns 14,446,725 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock worth $151,113,000 after purchasing an additional 9,639,675 shares during the last quarter. Barclays PLC lifted its stake in AGNC Investment by 4.8% during the third quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 1,552,969 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock worth $16,242,000 after purchasing an additional 71,330 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its stake in AGNC Investment by 2.0% during the third quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 12,303,616 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock worth $128,730,000 after purchasing an additional 242,640 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Howard Financial Services LTD. lifted its stake in AGNC Investment by 195.2% during the fourth quarter. Howard Financial Services LTD. now owns 53,834 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock worth $496,000 after purchasing an additional 35,598 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).