AGNC Investment (NASDAQ:AGNC) Trading 1.8% Higher After Dividend Announcement

Shares of AGNC Investment Corp. (NASDAQ:AGNC - Get Free Report) were up 1.8% during mid-day trading on Friday following a dividend announcement from the company. The company traded as high as $10.19 and last traded at $10.22. Approximately 5,061,734 shares were traded during mid-day trading, a decline of 68% from the average daily volume of 15,943,811 shares. The stock had previously closed at $10.04.

The newly announced dividend which will be paid on Wednesday, April 9th. Stockholders of record on Monday, March 31st will be paid a dividend of $0.12 per share. The ex-dividend date is Monday, March 31st. This represents a dividend yield of 14.1%. AGNC Investment's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 148.45%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of brokerages recently commented on AGNC. Argus upgraded shares of AGNC Investment to a "hold" rating in a research report on Tuesday, February 4th. Royal Bank of Canada restated an "outperform" rating and issued a $11.00 price objective on shares of AGNC Investment in a research report on Thursday, January 30th. JMP Securities restated a "market perform" rating on shares of AGNC Investment in a research report on Thursday, January 23rd. Wells Fargo & Company reduced 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 report on Thursday, January 30th. Finally, StockNews.com raised shares of AGNC Investment from a "sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Tuesday, February 25th. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $10.50.

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AGNC Investment Trading Up 2.0 %

The business's 50 day moving average price is $9.99 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $9.93. The company has a market capitalization of $9.37 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 10.56 and a beta of 1.50. 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 earnings per share 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 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Transactions at AGNC Investment

In related news, Director Frances Spark sold 5,000 shares of the 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 directly owns 75,919 shares of the company's stock, valued at $766,781.90. This represents a 6.18 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, CFO Bernice Bell sold 13,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred 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 sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 372,226 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $3,737,149.04. This represents a 3.37 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Company insiders own 0.52% of the company's stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On AGNC Investment

Large investors have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Fourth Dimension Wealth LLC acquired a new stake in shares of AGNC Investment during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $26,000. Financial Life Planners acquired a new stake in shares of AGNC Investment during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $28,000. Point72 Asset Management L.P. acquired a new stake in shares of AGNC Investment during the third quarter valued at approximately $32,000. National Bank of Canada FI increased its stake in AGNC Investment by 112.7% in the 4th 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 period. Finally, Spire Wealth Management increased its stake in AGNC Investment by 94.5% in the 4th quarter. Spire Wealth Management now owns 4,059 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock valued at $37,000 after buying an additional 1,972 shares during the period. 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).