AGNC Investment (NASDAQ:AGNC) Shares Up 0.1% - Still a Buy?

AGNC Investment Corp. (NASDAQ:AGNC - Get Free Report) traded up 0.1% during mid-day trading on Friday . The stock traded as high as $8.96 and last traded at $8.89. 7,504,304 shares changed hands during mid-day trading, a decline of 62% from the average session volume of 19,692,852 shares. The stock had previously closed at $8.88.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of analysts have recently commented on the company. JMP Securities reiterated a "market perform" rating on shares of AGNC Investment in a research report on Thursday, January 23rd. Jones Trading reduced their price objective on AGNC Investment from $10.25 to $9.50 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, April 22nd. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods lowered their target price on shares of AGNC Investment from $10.75 to $10.25 and set an "outperform" rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, January 29th. StockNews.com cut shares of AGNC Investment from a "hold" rating to a "sell" rating in a report on Tuesday. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered their price objective on shares of AGNC Investment from $9.50 to $8.50 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, April 16th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have assigned a hold rating and seven have given a buy rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $9.96.

AGNC Investment Price Performance

The company has a market cap of $8.09 billion, a PE ratio of 9.11 and a beta of 1.30. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $9.27 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $9.57. 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 - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Monday, April 21st. The real estate investment trust reported $0.44 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $0.41 by $0.03. The firm had revenue of $846.00 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $436.71 million. AGNC Investment had a return on equity of 21.92% and a net margin of 29.26%. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $0.58 earnings per share. On average, equities analysts predict that AGNC Investment Corp. will post 1.61 EPS for the current fiscal year.

AGNC Investment Dividend Announcement

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

Insider Buying and Selling

In other AGNC Investment news, CEO Peter J. Federico sold 48,333 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Friday, April 25th. The stock was 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 directly owns 1,691,421 shares in the company, valued at approximately $14,715,362.70. The trade was a 2.78 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, EVP Bernice Bell sold 8,000 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Thursday, May 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $8.88, for a total value of $71,040.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president now owns 374,019 shares in the company, valued at $3,321,288.72. This trade represents a 2.09 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 139,384 shares of company stock worth $1,228,039 in the last ninety days. Insiders own 0.42% of the company's stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On AGNC Investment

Hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Fourth Dimension Wealth LLC purchased a new position in AGNC Investment during the fourth quarter worth approximately $26,000. Financial Life Planners acquired a new position in AGNC Investment in the fourth quarter valued at $28,000. N.E.W. Advisory Services LLC acquired a new position in AGNC Investment in the first quarter valued at $28,000. National Bank of Canada FI increased its stake in 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 acquiring an additional 1,832 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Larson Financial Group LLC increased its stake in AGNC Investment by 326.3% during the first quarter. Larson Financial Group LLC now owns 3,291 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock worth $32,000 after acquiring an additional 2,519 shares during the last quarter. 38.28% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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).

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