AGNC Investment (NASDAQ:AGNC) Trading Up 0.7% - Here's What Happened

Shares of AGNC Investment Corp. (NASDAQ:AGNC - Get Free Report) were up 0.7% during mid-day trading on Friday . The company traded as high as $9.17 and last traded at $9.15. Approximately 4,254,905 shares were traded during trading, a decline of 79% from the average daily volume of 20,008,575 shares. The stock had previously closed at $9.08.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

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

AGNC Investment Stock Performance

The firm has a market cap of $9.38 billion, a PE ratio of 9.47 and a beta of 1.30. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $9.10 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $9.53. The company has a quick ratio of 0.23, a current ratio of 0.23 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.01.

AGNC Investment (NASDAQ:AGNC - Get Free Report) last released 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 company 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 previous year, the company posted $0.58 earnings per share. Research analysts forecast that AGNC Investment Corp. will post 1.61 EPS for the current fiscal year.

AGNC Investment Dividend Announcement

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 paid a $0.12 dividend. This represents a dividend yield of 16.2%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, May 30th. AGNC Investment's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 360.00%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other AGNC Investment news, EVP Kenneth L. Pollack sold 17,500 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Tuesday, April 29th. The stock was sold at an average price of $9.03, for a total value of $158,025.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 447,841 shares of the company's stock, valued at $4,044,004.23. This trade represents a 3.76% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, CEO Peter J. Federico sold 48,333 shares of AGNC Investment stock in a transaction on Monday, April 28th. The shares were sold at an average price of $8.88, for a total value of $429,197.04. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 1,643,088 shares in the company, valued at $14,590,621.44. This represents a 2.86% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 139,384 shares of company stock valued at $1,228,039 in the last three months. 0.42% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On AGNC Investment

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Fourth Dimension Wealth LLC purchased a new stake in AGNC Investment in the fourth quarter valued at $26,000. N.E.W. Advisory Services LLC purchased a new stake in AGNC Investment in the first quarter valued at $28,000. Financial Life Planners purchased a new stake in AGNC Investment in the fourth quarter valued at $28,000. Larson Financial Group LLC raised its position 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 purchasing an additional 2,519 shares during the period. Finally, National Bank of Canada FI raised its position in AGNC Investment by 112.7% in the fourth quarter. National Bank of Canada FI now owns 3,458 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock valued at $32,000 after purchasing an additional 1,832 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 38.28% of the company's stock.

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).