AGNC Investment (NASDAQ:AGNC) Trading 1.7% Higher – Should You Buy?

Shares of AGNC Investment Corp. (NASDAQ:AGNC) were up 1.7% on Tuesday . The company traded as high as $8.99 and last traded at $8.98. Approximately 10,087,875 shares changed hands during mid-day trading, a decline of 52% from the average daily volume of 21,007,759 shares. The stock had previously closed at $8.83.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities research analysts have recently issued reports on the stock. Wall Street Zen lowered shares of AGNC Investment from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a report on Tuesday, May 6th. Wells Fargo & Company dropped their price objective on shares of AGNC Investment from $11.00 to $10.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, April 22nd. JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut their price objective on shares of AGNC Investment from $9.50 to $8.50 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, April 16th. Jones Trading decreased their target price on shares of AGNC Investment from $10.25 to $9.50 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, April 22nd. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada dropped their price target on AGNC Investment from $11.00 to $10.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, April 29th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have issued a hold rating and seven have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $9.96.

AGNC Investment Trading Up 2.0%

The stock has a market cap of $9.19 billion, a PE ratio of 9.29 and a beta of 1.30. The company’s 50-day moving average price is $8.86 and its 200 day moving average price is $9.49. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.01, a quick ratio of 0.23 and a current ratio of 0.23.

AGNC Investment (NASDAQ:AGNC) last posted its earnings results on Monday, April 21st. The real estate investment trust reported $0.44 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.41 by $0.03. AGNC Investment had a return on equity of 21.92% and a net margin of 29.26%. The company had revenue of $846.00 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $436.71 million. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $0.58 earnings per share. On average, sell-side analysts forecast that AGNC Investment Corp. will post 1.61 EPS for the current fiscal year.

AGNC Investment Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a may 25 dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, June 10th. Shareholders of record on Friday, May 30th will be given a $0.12 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, May 30th. This represents a yield of 16.2%. AGNC Investment’s payout ratio is currently 360.00%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, CEO Peter J. Federico sold 48,333 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, April 25th. The shares were sold at an average price of $8.70, for a total value of $420,497.10. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 1,691,421 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $14,715,362.70. This trade represents a 2.78% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, Director Donna Blank sold 17,218 shares of AGNC Investment stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, May 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $8.67, for a total transaction of $149,280.06. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 90,345 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $783,291.15. This trade represents a 16.01% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 139,384 shares of company stock valued at $1,228,039 over the last 90 days. 0.42% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On AGNC Investment

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in AGNC. Fourth Dimension Wealth LLC acquired a new stake in shares of AGNC Investment in the fourth quarter valued at $26,000. Financial Life Planners acquired a new stake in shares of AGNC Investment in the 4th quarter valued at $28,000. N.E.W. Advisory Services LLC purchased a new stake in shares of AGNC Investment during the 1st quarter worth $28,000. National Bank of Canada FI grew its stake in shares of AGNC Investment by 112.7% during the fourth quarter. National Bank of Canada FI now owns 3,458 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $32,000 after purchasing an additional 1,832 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Larson Financial Group LLC increased its holdings in AGNC Investment by 326.3% in the first quarter. Larson Financial Group LLC now owns 3,291 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $32,000 after buying an additional 2,519 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors 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).