AGNC Investment (NASDAQ:AGNC) Trading Down 0.3% – Time to Sell?

AGNC Investment Corp. (NASDAQ:AGNC)’s share price fell 0.3% on Thursday . The company traded as low as $10.31 and last traded at $10.33. 4,031,364 shares traded hands during trading, a decline of 75% from the average session volume of 16,069,480 shares. The stock had previously closed at $10.36.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of analysts have issued reports on AGNC shares. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods reduced their price objective on AGNC Investment from $10.75 to $10.25 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, January 29th. JMP Securities reissued a “market perform” rating on shares of AGNC Investment in a research report on Thursday, January 23rd. Wells Fargo & Company dropped their price objective 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. JPMorgan Chase & Co. dropped their price target on shares of AGNC Investment from $10.00 to $9.50 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, December 9th. Finally, Argus upgraded AGNC Investment to a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday, February 4th. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have given a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, AGNC Investment currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $10.50.

AGNC Investment Price Performance

The stock has a market cap of $9.41 billion, a PE ratio of 10.59 and a beta of 1.50. The firm’s 50-day moving average price is $10.05 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $9.93. The company has a current ratio of 0.23, a quick ratio of 0.23 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.01.

AGNC Investment (NASDAQ:AGNC) last announced 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 expect that AGNC Investment Corp. will post 1.61 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

AGNC Investment Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a mar 25 dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, April 9th. Shareholders of record on Monday, March 31st will be paid a $0.12 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, March 31st. This represents a yield of 14.1%. AGNC Investment’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 148.45%.

Insider Buying and Selling at AGNC Investment

In related news, CFO Bernice Bell sold 13,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, January 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $10.04, for a total transaction of $130,520.00. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 372,226 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,737,149.04. This represents a 3.37 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, Director Frances Spark sold 5,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, February 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $10.10, for a total value of $50,500.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 75,919 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $766,781.90. This represents a 6.18 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders own 0.52% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On AGNC Investment

Hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the stock. California State Teachers Retirement System increased its stake in AGNC Investment by 5.4% during the 4th quarter. California State Teachers Retirement System now owns 734,414 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $6,764,000 after purchasing an additional 37,683 shares in the last quarter. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC increased its position in shares of AGNC Investment by 96.4% in the 4th quarter. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC now owns 110,113 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $1,014,000 after acquiring an additional 54,049 shares during the period. Jefferies Financial Group Inc. raised its stake in AGNC Investment by 19.6% in the 4th quarter. Jefferies Financial Group Inc. now owns 49,433 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $455,000 after acquiring an additional 8,103 shares during the last quarter. AlphaCore Capital LLC lifted its position in AGNC Investment by 176.2% during the 4th quarter. AlphaCore Capital LLC now owns 69,946 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $653,000 after acquiring an additional 44,624 shares during the period. Finally, Kingstone Capital Partners Texas LLC acquired a new stake in AGNC Investment during the 4th quarter worth about $169,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 38.28% of the company’s stock.

AGNC Investment Company Profile

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).