AGNC Investment (NASDAQ:AGNC) Trading 0.5% Higher - Still a Buy?

AGNC Investment Corp. (NASDAQ:AGNC - Get Free Report)'s share price was up 0.5% during trading on Thursday . The company traded as high as $9.58 and last traded at $9.57. Approximately 2,944,234 shares were traded during mid-day trading, a decline of 79% from the average daily volume of 14,043,396 shares. The stock had previously closed at $9.52.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research firms have commented on AGNC. Wells Fargo & Company raised AGNC Investment from an "equal weight" rating to an "overweight" rating and upped their price objective for the company from $10.00 to $12.00 in a research note on Friday, September 20th. JMP Securities reissued a "market perform" rating on shares of AGNC Investment in a report on Wednesday, August 28th. Maxim Group cut AGNC Investment from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 24th. StockNews.com downgraded shares of AGNC Investment from a "hold" rating to a "sell" rating in a report on Saturday, October 19th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada upped their price target on AGNC Investment from $10.00 to $11.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a report on Friday, August 16th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, four have issued a hold rating and seven have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $10.33.

AGNC Investment Price Performance

The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.01, a current ratio of 0.23 and a quick ratio of 0.23. The stock has a market capitalization of $8.44 billion, a PE ratio of 6.65 and a beta of 1.47. The company has a 50-day moving average of $10.12 and a two-hundred day moving average of $9.95.

AGNC Investment (NASDAQ:AGNC - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Monday, October 21st. The real estate investment trust reported $0.43 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.47 by ($0.04). AGNC Investment had a return on equity of 23.41% and a net margin of 42.19%. The company had revenue of $756.00 million for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $219.50 million. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned $0.65 earnings per share. Sell-side analysts predict that AGNC Investment Corp. will post 1.94 EPS for the current fiscal year.

AGNC Investment Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a nov 24 dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, December 10th. Stockholders of record on Friday, November 29th will be issued a dividend of $0.12 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, November 29th. This represents a dividend yield of 14.9%. AGNC Investment's payout ratio is 100.00%.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On AGNC Investment

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the company. CIBC Asset Management Inc lifted its stake in shares of AGNC Investment by 5.4% during the second quarter. CIBC Asset Management Inc now owns 19,712 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock worth $188,000 after purchasing an additional 1,012 shares in the last quarter. Avantax Advisory Services Inc. lifted its position in shares of AGNC Investment by 6.7% during the first quarter. Avantax Advisory Services Inc. now owns 16,847 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock worth $167,000 after purchasing an additional 1,059 shares in the last quarter. Paragon Capital Management Ltd increased its stake in AGNC Investment by 3.6% during the 3rd quarter. Paragon Capital Management Ltd now owns 30,717 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock worth $321,000 after buying an additional 1,071 shares during the period. Highlander Capital Management LLC lifted its holdings in AGNC Investment by 8.1% in the 1st quarter. Highlander Capital Management LLC now owns 15,940 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock worth $158,000 after buying an additional 1,200 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Oak Thistle LLC boosted its position in AGNC Investment by 4.9% in the 2nd quarter. Oak Thistle LLC now owns 26,815 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock valued at $256,000 after buying an additional 1,251 shares during the last quarter. 38.28% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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).

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