Victory Capital Management Inc. Grows Stock Position in AGNC Investment Corp. (NASDAQ:AGNC)

Victory Capital Management Inc. boosted its holdings in AGNC Investment Corp. (NASDAQ:AGNC) by 13.4% during the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The fund owned 4,870,678 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock after buying an additional 575,292 shares during the period. Victory Capital Management Inc.’s holdings in AGNC Investment were worth $44,859,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. lifted its stake in shares of AGNC Investment by 2.5% in the 3rd quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 6,768,305 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $70,796,000 after purchasing an additional 162,152 shares during the last quarter. Vaughan Nelson Investment Management L.P. lifted its position in 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 during the last quarter. Barclays PLC boosted its stake in AGNC Investment by 4.8% during the third quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 1,552,969 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $16,242,000 after buying an additional 71,330 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC increased its position in shares of AGNC Investment by 2.0% during the third quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 12,303,616 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $128,730,000 after acquiring an additional 242,640 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Howard Financial Services LTD. increased its position in shares of AGNC Investment by 195.2% during the fourth quarter. Howard Financial Services LTD. now owns 53,834 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $496,000 after acquiring an additional 35,598 shares during the last quarter. 38.28% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

AGNC Investment Stock Up 2.4 %

AGNC stock opened at $10.38 on Friday. AGNC Investment Corp. has a fifty-two week low of $8.92 and a fifty-two week high of $10.85. The company’s 50 day moving average price is $9.91 and its 200 day moving average price is $9.93. 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 capitalization of $9.50 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 10.70 and a beta of 1.50.

AGNC Investment (NASDAQ:AGNC) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Monday, January 27th. The real estate investment trust reported $0.37 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates 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 research analysts anticipate that AGNC Investment Corp. will post 1.61 EPS for the current fiscal year.

AGNC Investment Announces Dividend

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

Insider Transactions at AGNC Investment

In other news, CFO Bernice Bell sold 13,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, January 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $10.04, for a total transaction of $130,520.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer now owns 372,226 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,737,149.04. The trade was a 3.37 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, Director Frances Spark sold 5,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on 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 approximately $766,781.90. The trade was 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.

Analyst Ratings Changes

AGNC has been the subject of a number of research analyst reports. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods lowered their price objective on shares of AGNC Investment from $10.75 to $10.25 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, January 29th. StockNews.com upgraded AGNC Investment from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday, February 25th. Royal Bank of Canada reiterated an “outperform” rating and issued a $11.00 price objective on shares of AGNC Investment in a report on Thursday, January 30th. Wells Fargo & Company decreased their target price on AGNC Investment from $12.00 to $11.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, January 30th. Finally, JMP Securities reaffirmed a “market perform” rating on shares of AGNC Investment in a research report on Thursday, January 23rd. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $10.50.

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).