StockNews.com Lowers AGNC Investment (NASDAQ:AGNC) to Sell

AGNC Investment (NASDAQ:AGNC - Get Free Report) was downgraded by research analysts at StockNews.com from a "hold" rating to a "sell" rating in a research note issued to investors on Sunday.

Several other research firms have also recently weighed in on AGNC. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods increased their price objective on AGNC Investment from $10.00 to $10.25 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research report on Thursday, July 25th. JMP Securities reissued a "market perform" rating on shares of AGNC Investment in a research 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. Compass Point increased their price objective on AGNC Investment from $10.25 to $11.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 24th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price objective on AGNC Investment from $9.50 to $10.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 16th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, four have assigned a hold rating and six have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $10.13.

AGNC Investment Stock Down 0.4 %

Shares of NASDAQ AGNC traded down $0.04 during trading hours on Friday, hitting $10.21. The stock had a trading volume of 12,432,422 shares, compared to its average volume of 12,514,650. The company has a market capitalization of $7.42 billion, a P/E ratio of 11.22 and a beta of 1.47. The firm's 50-day moving average price is $10.08 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $9.77. AGNC Investment has a 52 week low of $6.81 and a 52 week high of $10.57. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.01, a quick ratio of 0.27 and a current ratio of 0.27.

AGNC Investment (NASDAQ:AGNC - Get Free Report) last announced its earnings results on Monday, July 22nd. The real estate investment trust reported $0.53 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts' consensus estimates of $0.54 by ($0.01). The company had revenue of $695.00 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $643.29 million. AGNC Investment had a return on equity of 26.21% and a net margin of 16.15%. The firm's revenue for the quarter was up 52.1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $0.67 EPS. Analysts anticipate that AGNC Investment will post 2.11 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other AGNC Investment news, CFO Bernice Bell sold 5,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, August 8th. The stock was sold at an average price of $10.07, for a total transaction of $50,350.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 298,182 shares in the company, valued at $3,002,692.74. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Corporate insiders own 0.52% of the company's stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Ashton Thomas Private Wealth LLC acquired a new stake in shares of AGNC Investment in the second quarter valued at $31,000. Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. increased its stake in shares of AGNC Investment by 52.2% in the second quarter. Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. now owns 3,661 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock valued at $35,000 after buying an additional 1,255 shares in the last quarter. LRI Investments LLC acquired a new stake in shares of AGNC Investment in the first quarter valued at $38,000. Verity & Verity LLC acquired a new stake in shares of AGNC Investment in the first quarter valued at $45,000. Finally, Quarry LP increased its stake in shares of AGNC Investment by 75.6% in the second quarter. Quarry LP now owns 5,285 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock valued at $50,000 after buying an additional 2,275 shares in the last quarter. 38.28% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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).