AGNC Investment Corp. (NASDAQ:AGNC) Receives Consensus Rating of “Moderate Buy” from Analysts

Shares of AGNC Investment Corp. (NASDAQ:AGNC) have received a consensus recommendation of “Moderate Buy” from the ten research firms that are covering the company, Marketbeat.com reports. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have issued a buy rating on the company. The average 1-year price objective among brokerages that have updated their coverage on the stock in the last year is $10.50.

A number of analysts recently weighed in on AGNC shares. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods decreased their price target 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. Wells Fargo & Company decreased their price target on shares of 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 upgraded shares of AGNC Investment from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday. JMP Securities reiterated a “market perform” rating on shares of AGNC Investment in a research note on Thursday, January 23rd. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada reiterated an “outperform” rating and set a $11.00 price target on shares of AGNC Investment in a research note on Thursday, January 30th.

AGNC Investment Trading Up 0.3 %

Shares of AGNC Investment stock opened at $10.53 on Friday. The company has a fifty day simple moving average of $9.76 and a 200-day simple moving average of $9.91. AGNC Investment has a 12-month low of $8.92 and a 12-month high of $10.85. The company has a current ratio of 0.23, a quick ratio of 0.23 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.01. The stock has a market cap of $9.32 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 10.85 and a beta of 1.48.

AGNC Investment (NASDAQ:AGNC) last issued its earnings results on Monday, January 27th. The real estate investment trust reported $0.37 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.42 by ($0.05). AGNC Investment had a net margin of 29.26% and a return on equity of 21.92%. On average, equities analysts forecast that AGNC Investment will post 1.61 EPS for the current fiscal year.

AGNC Investment Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a feb 25 dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, March 11th. Shareholders of record on Friday, February 28th will be given a dividend of $0.12 per share. The ex-dividend date is Friday, February 28th. This represents a yield of 13.8%. AGNC Investment’s payout ratio is currently 148.45%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, CFO Bernice Bell sold 13,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Thursday, January 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $10.04, for a total value of $130,520.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer now owns 372,226 shares in the company, valued at $3,737,149.04. This trade represents a 3.37 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, Director Frances Spark sold 5,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated 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 transaction, the director now owns 75,919 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $766,781.90. This represents a 6.18 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.43% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On AGNC Investment

A number of large investors have recently made changes to their positions in AGNC. Fourth Dimension Wealth LLC purchased a new position in shares of AGNC Investment in the 4th quarter valued at about $26,000. Financial Life Planners purchased a new position in shares of AGNC Investment in the 4th quarter valued at about $28,000. Point72 Asset Management L.P. purchased a new position in shares of AGNC Investment in the 3rd quarter valued at about $32,000. National Bank of Canada FI grew 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 acquiring an additional 1,832 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Blue Trust Inc. grew its stake in AGNC Investment by 315.9% in the 3rd quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 3,905 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $37,000 after acquiring an additional 2,966 shares during 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).