AGNC Investment (NASDAQ:AGNC) Stock Price Up 1.1% – Should You Buy?

Shares of AGNC Investment Corp. (NASDAQ:AGNC) were up 1.1% on Tuesday . The company traded as high as $9.24 and last traded at $9.22. 3,519,701 shares changed hands during mid-day trading, a decline of 80% from the average daily volume of 17,308,908 shares. The stock had previously closed at $9.12.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research analysts recently commented on AGNC shares. JPMorgan Chase & Co. dropped their price target on AGNC Investment from $10.00 to $9.50 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, December 9th. Wells Fargo & Company upgraded AGNC Investment from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and raised their price target for the company from $10.00 to $12.00 in a research note on Friday, September 20th. Finally, StockNews.com lowered shares of AGNC Investment from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research note on Saturday, October 19th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have assigned a hold rating and seven have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $10.44.

AGNC Investment Price Performance

The stock’s 50 day simple moving average is $9.50 and its 200-day simple moving average is $9.91. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.01, a quick ratio of 0.23 and a current ratio of 0.23. The firm has a market cap of $8.17 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 6.40 and a beta of 1.47.

AGNC Investment (NASDAQ:AGNC) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Monday, October 21st. The real estate investment trust reported $0.43 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.47 by ($0.04). The business had revenue of $756.00 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $219.50 million. AGNC Investment had a net margin of 42.19% and a return on equity of 23.41%. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $0.65 earnings per share. Equities research analysts anticipate that AGNC Investment Corp. will post 1.94 EPS for the current fiscal year.

AGNC Investment Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a jan 25 dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, February 11th. Stockholders of record on Friday, January 31st will be issued a dividend of $0.12 per share. This represents a dividend yield of 15.5%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, January 31st. AGNC Investment’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 100.00%.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On AGNC Investment

Several hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of AGNC. Vaughan Nelson Investment Management L.P. increased its position in shares of AGNC Investment by 200.5% in the third quarter. Vaughan Nelson Investment Management L.P. now owns 14,446,725 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $151,113,000 after buying an additional 9,639,675 shares in the last quarter. Natixis Advisors LLC raised its position in AGNC Investment by 314.8% during the third quarter. Natixis Advisors LLC now owns 3,842,814 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $40,196,000 after acquiring an additional 2,916,345 shares during the period. ORG Wealth Partners LLC purchased a new position in AGNC Investment during the third quarter valued at $17,463,000. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC raised its position in shares of AGNC Investment by 115.0% during the 3rd quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC now owns 1,912,694 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $20,007,000 after purchasing an additional 1,023,275 shares during the last quarter. Finally, International Assets Investment Management LLC boosted its holdings in AGNC Investment by 945.2% in the 3rd quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 1,072,039 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $102,489,000 after buying an additional 969,475 shares during the last quarter. 38.28% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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).