AGNC Investment (NASDAQ:AGNC) Shares Up 0.8% Following Dividend Announcement

AGNC Investment Corp. (NASDAQ:AGNC - Get Free Report)'s share price rose 0.8% during trading on Thursday after the company announced a dividend. The stock traded as high as $10.29 and last traded at $10.27. Approximately 6,028,772 shares traded hands during trading, a decline of 68% from the average daily volume of 19,000,322 shares. The stock had previously closed at $10.18.

The newly announced dividend which will be paid on Tuesday, March 11th. Shareholders of record on Friday, February 28th will be paid 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 presently 148.45%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

AGNC has been the topic of several recent analyst reports. Argus raised AGNC Investment to a "hold" rating in a research note on Tuesday, February 4th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. dropped their price target on AGNC Investment from $10.00 to $9.50 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, December 9th. Wells Fargo & Company dropped their price target on AGNC Investment from $12.00 to $11.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, January 30th. Royal Bank of Canada reissued 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 lowered AGNC Investment from a "hold" rating to a "sell" rating in a research report on Saturday, October 19th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have assigned a hold rating and seven have given a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $10.50.

Remove Ads

AGNC Investment Price Performance

The company has a fifty day moving average of $9.63 and a 200-day moving average of $9.89. The firm has a market cap of $9.24 billion, a P/E ratio of 10.75 and a beta of 1.48. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.01, a current ratio of 0.23 and a quick ratio of 0.23.

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 earnings per share (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%. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that AGNC Investment Corp. will post 1.61 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other AGNC Investment news, CFO Bernice Bell sold 13,000 shares of the company's stock in a transaction 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 completion of the transaction, 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 sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, 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 value of $50,500.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 75,919 shares of the company's stock, valued at $766,781.90. This trade represents a 6.18 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.52% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Riverview Trust Co bought a new position in shares of AGNC Investment during the 3rd quarter worth $25,000. Financial Life Planners bought a new position in shares of AGNC Investment during the 4th quarter worth $28,000. Point72 Asset Management L.P. bought a new position in shares of AGNC Investment during the 3rd quarter worth $32,000. National Bank of Canada FI grew its stake in shares of AGNC Investment by 112.7% during the 4th quarter. National Bank of Canada FI now owns 3,458 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock worth $32,000 after acquiring an additional 1,832 shares during the period. Finally, Blue Trust Inc. grew its stake in shares of AGNC Investment by 315.9% during the 3rd quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 3,905 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock worth $37,000 after acquiring an additional 2,966 shares during the period. 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).