Kovack Advisors Inc. Raises Stake in AGNC Investment Corp. (NASDAQ:AGNC)

Kovack Advisors Inc. increased its stake in AGNC Investment Corp. (NASDAQ:AGNC) by 5.5% in the first quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 220,782 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock after purchasing an additional 11,588 shares during the quarter. Kovack Advisors Inc.’s holdings in AGNC Investment were worth $2,186,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Norges Bank acquired a new stake in shares of AGNC Investment during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $69,215,000. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its stake in shares of AGNC Investment by 10.5% during the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 63,366,808 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $621,628,000 after purchasing an additional 6,019,268 shares in the last quarter. Vaughan Nelson Investment Management L.P. acquired a new position in shares of AGNC Investment during the 4th quarter worth approximately $38,593,000. GRS Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in AGNC Investment in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $32,509,000. Finally, Victory Capital Management Inc. grew its holdings in AGNC Investment by 150.5% during the 4th quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. now owns 5,175,807 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $50,775,000 after buying an additional 3,109,966 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 38.28% of the company’s stock.

AGNC Investment Trading Up 0.3 %

Shares of AGNC traded up $0.03 during mid-day trading on Thursday, reaching $9.69. The company had a trading volume of 6,412,334 shares, compared to its average volume of 11,641,325. AGNC Investment Corp. has a fifty-two week low of $6.81 and a fifty-two week high of $10.64. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $9.63 and a 200-day simple moving average of $9.64. The stock has a market cap of $7.04 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 10.65 and a beta of 1.48. The company has a current ratio of 0.28, a quick ratio of 0.28 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.01.

AGNC Investment (NASDAQ:AGNC) last issued its earnings results on Tuesday, April 23rd. The real estate investment trust reported $0.58 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.56 by $0.02. The firm had revenue of $642.00 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $568.38 million. AGNC Investment had a return on equity of 27.14% and a net margin of 32.12%. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $0.70 earnings per share. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that AGNC Investment Corp. will post 2.14 EPS for the current fiscal year.

AGNC Investment Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a jun 24 dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, July 10th. Stockholders of record on Friday, June 28th will be paid a $0.12 dividend. This represents a dividend yield of 14.8%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, June 28th. AGNC Investment’s dividend payout ratio is presently 158.24%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities analysts have recently weighed in on AGNC shares. JMP Securities reissued a “market perform” rating on shares of AGNC Investment in a report on Thursday, April 18th. Janney Montgomery Scott initiated coverage on shares of AGNC Investment in a report on Thursday, June 6th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $10.50 target price on the stock. StockNews.com raised shares of AGNC Investment from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday, March 12th. Jonestrading cut their price objective on shares of AGNC Investment from $10.75 to $10.25 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, April 23rd. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods reduced their price objective on shares of AGNC Investment from $10.00 to $9.50 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, April 24th. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and five have issued a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, AGNC Investment has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $9.88.

Insider Activity at AGNC Investment

In other AGNC Investment news, Director Paul E. Mullings sold 5,400 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, May 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $9.40, for a total value of $50,760.00. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 111,827 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,051,173.80. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. In other news, CFO Bernice Bell sold 3,500 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, May 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $9.32, for a total transaction of $32,620.00. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 309,973 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,888,948.36. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, Director Paul E. Mullings sold 5,400 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Friday, May 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $9.40, for a total transaction of $50,760.00. Following the sale, the director now directly owns 111,827 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,051,173.80. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders have sold 15,900 shares of company stock worth $149,030. 0.43% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

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).