AGNC Investment Corp. (NASDAQ:AGNC) Sees Large Increase in Short Interest

Key Points

• AGNC Investment Corp. experienced a significant increase in short interest, rising by 29.6% in August, bringing the total to 60,040,000 shares shorted, which represents 5.8% of the company's shares.
• Analysts have given AGNC Investment a consensus rating of Moderate Buy with a target price averaging $9.63, with multiple firms recently upgrading their price objectives.
• The company announced a dividend of $0.12 per share to be paid on October 9, which reflects a substantial dividend yield of 1,408.0%.

AGNC Investment Corp. (NASDAQ:AGNC - Get Free Report) saw a large growth in short interest in August. As of August 31st, there was short interest totaling 60,040,000 shares, a growth of 29.6% from the August 15th total of 46,340,000 shares. Currently, 5.8% of the shares of the stock are short sold. Based on an average daily volume of 20,730,000 shares, the short-interest ratio is currently 2.9 days. Based on an average daily volume of 20,730,000 shares, the short-interest ratio is currently 2.9 days. Currently, 5.8% of the shares of the stock are short sold.

AGNC Investment Stock Down 1.3%

Shares of AGNC Investment stock traded down $0.13 on Friday, reaching $9.97. 33,482,217 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 19,145,364. AGNC Investment has a 1-year low of $7.85 and a 1-year high of $10.67. The company has a market cap of $10.39 billion, a P/E ratio of 29.32 and a beta of 1.30. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.01, a current ratio of 0.33 and a quick ratio of 0.33. The stock's 50 day moving average price is $9.73 and its 200-day moving average price is $9.39.

AGNC Investment (NASDAQ:AGNC - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Monday, July 21st. The real estate investment trust reported $0.38 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts' consensus estimates of $0.42 by ($0.04). AGNC Investment had a return on equity of 19.32% and a net margin of 11.50%.The company had revenue of $830.00 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $447.37 million. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $0.53 earnings per share. As a group, equities analysts forecast that AGNC Investment will post 1.61 EPS for the current year.

AGNC Investment Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a sep 25 dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, October 9th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, September 30th will be given a dividend of $0.12 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, September 30th. This represents a dividend yield of 1,408.0%. AGNC Investment's payout ratio is currently 423.53%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other AGNC Investment news, Director John D. Fisk sold 20,278 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Monday, July 28th. The stock was sold at an average price of $9.65, for a total value of $195,682.70. Following the transaction, the director owned 112,685 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,087,410.25. This trade represents a 15.25% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, Director Paul E. Mullings sold 11,000 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Friday, July 25th. The shares were sold at an average price of $9.61, for a total value of $105,710.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director owned 128,511 shares in the company, valued at $1,234,990.71. The trade was a 7.88% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Company insiders own 0.42% of the company's stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On AGNC Investment

Several institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Osaic Holdings Inc. lifted its stake in AGNC Investment by 47.0% during the second quarter. Osaic Holdings Inc. now owns 961,656 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock worth $8,839,000 after purchasing an additional 307,516 shares during the last quarter. PVG Asset Management Corp lifted its stake in AGNC Investment by 13.8% during the second quarter. PVG Asset Management Corp now owns 23,852 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock worth $219,000 after purchasing an additional 2,885 shares during the last quarter. Centaurus Financial Inc. lifted its stake in AGNC Investment by 141.2% during the second quarter. Centaurus Financial Inc. now owns 74,055 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock worth $681,000 after purchasing an additional 43,350 shares during the last quarter. Orion Porfolio Solutions LLC lifted its stake in AGNC Investment by 47.6% in the second quarter. Orion Porfolio Solutions LLC now owns 21,798 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock valued at $200,000 after buying an additional 7,026 shares during the last quarter. Finally, TT Capital Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of AGNC Investment in the second quarter valued at approximately $1,236,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 38.28% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of brokerages have weighed in on AGNC. UBS Group raised their price objective on AGNC Investment from $9.50 to $9.75 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a report on Wednesday, September 3rd. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods boosted their price objective on shares of AGNC Investment from $9.50 to $10.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a report on Thursday, July 10th. Finally, Jones Trading restated a "buy" rating and issued a $9.50 price objective on shares of AGNC Investment in a report on Tuesday, July 22nd. Five research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and three have given a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, AGNC Investment currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $9.63.

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).