AGNC Investment Sees Unusually High Options Volume (NASDAQ:AGNC)

AGNC Investment Corp. (NASDAQ:AGNC - Get Free Report) was the recipient of some unusual options trading activity on Friday. Stock traders purchased 52,084 call options on the stock. This represents an increase of 28% compared to the average daily volume of 40,598 call options.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research analysts have recently weighed in on the company. Wells Fargo & Company decreased their price target on AGNC Investment from $12.00 to $11.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, January 30th. StockNews.com raised shares of AGNC Investment from a "sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Tuesday, February 25th. JMP Securities restated a "market perform" rating on shares of AGNC Investment in a research report on Thursday, January 23rd. Royal Bank of Canada reaffirmed an "outperform" rating and issued a $11.00 target price on shares of AGNC Investment in a research report on Thursday, January 30th. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods decreased their target price on shares of AGNC Investment from $10.75 to $10.25 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, January 29th. Four analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $10.50.

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AGNC Investment Stock Performance

Shares of AGNC stock traded up $0.09 during trading hours on Monday, reaching $8.44. 50,291,981 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 18,369,270. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $9.88 and a 200 day moving average price of $9.77. The company has a market cap of $7.73 billion, a P/E ratio of 8.70 and a beta of 1.32. AGNC Investment has a 12-month low of $7.85 and a 12-month high of $10.85. 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 posted 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%. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that AGNC Investment will post 1.61 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

AGNC Investment Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a apr 25 dividend, which will be paid on Friday, May 9th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, April 30th will be given a $0.12 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, April 30th. This represents a dividend yield of 17.7%. AGNC Investment's payout ratio is 148.45%.

Insider Activity

In other news, CFO Bernice Bell sold 13,000 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, January 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $10.04, for a total value of $130,520.00. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer now owns 372,226 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,737,149.04. This represents a 3.37 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, 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 sale, the director now owns 75,919 shares in the company, valued at approximately $766,781.90. The trade was a 6.18 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Company insiders own 0.42% of the company's stock.

Institutional Trading of AGNC Investment

Institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the business. Yousif Capital Management LLC grew its holdings in AGNC Investment by 24.2% during the 1st quarter. Yousif Capital Management LLC now owns 42,048 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock valued at $403,000 after buying an additional 8,194 shares in the last quarter. Selective Wealth Management Inc. bought a new stake in AGNC Investment in the 1st quarter valued at $176,000. Capital Investment Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in AGNC Investment in the 1st quarter worth $99,000. Park Avenue Securities LLC boosted its holdings in shares of AGNC Investment by 12.5% during the 1st quarter. Park Avenue Securities LLC now owns 32,175 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock valued at $308,000 after purchasing an additional 3,580 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Wedmont Private Capital grew its position in shares of AGNC Investment by 24.4% during the first quarter. Wedmont Private Capital now owns 52,785 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock valued at $506,000 after purchasing an additional 10,340 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 38.28% of the company's stock.

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).