AGNC Investment (NASDAQ:AGNC) Trading Up 0.2%

Shares of AGNC Investment Corp. (NASDAQ:AGNC) were up 0.2% during mid-day trading on Wednesday . The stock traded as high as $10.18 and last traded at $10.14. Approximately 2,721,540 shares were traded during trading, a decline of 78% from the average daily volume of 12,454,336 shares. The stock had previously closed at $10.12.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities analysts recently commented on the stock. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods boosted their price objective on shares of AGNC Investment from $10.00 to $10.25 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, July 25th. Janney Montgomery Scott began coverage on AGNC Investment in a research note on Thursday, June 6th. They set a “buy” rating and a $10.50 price objective for the company. Compass Point raised 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. Maxim Group lowered AGNC Investment from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 24th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada increased their price target on shares of AGNC Investment from $10.00 to $11.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, August 16th. Five investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have issued a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $10.13.

AGNC Investment Price Performance

The firm has a market cap of $7.41 billion, a PE ratio of 11.23 and a beta of 1.48. The company has a quick ratio of 0.28, a current ratio of 0.28 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.01. The stock has a 50 day moving average price of $9.97 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $9.70.

AGNC Investment (NASDAQ:AGNC) last released its earnings results on Monday, July 22nd. The real estate investment trust reported $0.53 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.54 by ($0.01). The company had revenue of $695.00 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $643.29 million. AGNC Investment had a return on equity of 26.78% and a net margin of 16.15%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 52.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $0.67 EPS. As a group, equities analysts expect that AGNC Investment Corp. will post 2.11 earnings per share for the current year.

AGNC Investment Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a aug 24 dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, September 11th. Investors of record on Friday, August 30th will be paid a $0.12 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, August 30th. This represents a yield of 14.5%. AGNC Investment’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 158.24%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, CFO Bernice Bell sold 5,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, August 8th. The stock was sold at an average price of $10.07, for a total value 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 sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. 0.52% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On AGNC Investment

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of AGNC. PVG Asset Management Corp acquired a new stake in AGNC Investment during the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $368,000. Cetera Investment Advisers raised its holdings in shares of AGNC Investment by 1.9% during the second quarter. Cetera Investment Advisers now owns 330,181 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $3,150,000 after purchasing an additional 6,070 shares during the last quarter. B. Riley Wealth Advisors Inc. lifted its position in AGNC Investment by 334.5% during the second quarter. B. Riley Wealth Advisors Inc. now owns 131,648 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $1,272,000 after purchasing an additional 101,351 shares during the period. Quarry LP boosted its holdings in 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 purchasing an additional 2,275 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. grew its position in AGNC Investment by 52.2% during the 2nd quarter. Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. now owns 3,661 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $35,000 after purchasing an additional 1,255 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds 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).