AGNC Investment (NASDAQ:AGNC) Stock Price Up 0.7% - Still a Buy?

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

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

AGNC has been the topic of a number of research reports. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods decreased their price objective on AGNC Investment from $10.75 to $10.25 and set an "outperform" rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, January 29th. StockNews.com cut AGNC Investment from a "hold" rating to a "sell" rating in a report on Tuesday, May 6th. Jones Trading decreased their price objective on AGNC Investment from $10.25 to $9.50 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, April 22nd. Royal Bank of Canada decreased their price target on AGNC Investment from $11.00 to $10.00 and set an "outperform" rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, April 29th. Finally, Argus reaffirmed a "hold" rating on shares of AGNC Investment in a research note on Tuesday, April 29th. One investment 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. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $9.96.

AGNC Investment Stock Up 1.2%

The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.01, a current ratio of 0.23 and a quick ratio of 0.23. The stock has a market capitalization of $9.37 billion, a PE ratio of 9.46 and a beta of 1.30. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $9.14 and a 200-day moving average price of $9.54.

AGNC Investment (NASDAQ:AGNC - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results on Monday, April 21st. The real estate investment trust reported $0.44 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate 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 period in the previous year, the company posted $0.58 earnings per share. As a group, analysts forecast that AGNC Investment Corp. will post 1.61 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

AGNC Investment Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced 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 is Friday, May 30th. AGNC Investment's dividend payout ratio is presently 360.00%.

Insider Transactions at AGNC Investment

In related news, Director Donna Blank sold 17,218 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, May 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $8.67, for a total value of $149,280.06. Following the transaction, the director now owns 90,345 shares in the company, valued at $783,291.15. The trade was a 16.01% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, CEO Peter J. Federico sold 48,333 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Friday, April 25th. The stock was sold at an average price of $8.70, for a total transaction of $420,497.10. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now 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 disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have 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 company insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On AGNC Investment

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Hsbc Holdings PLC lifted its stake in AGNC Investment by 5.6% during the 4th quarter. Hsbc Holdings PLC now owns 18,259 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock valued at $168,000 after acquiring an additional 970 shares during the period. CIBC Asset Management Inc lifted its stake in AGNC Investment by 5.3% during the 4th quarter. CIBC Asset Management Inc now owns 21,428 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock valued at $197,000 after acquiring an additional 1,075 shares during the period. Armstrong Advisory Group Inc. lifted its stake in AGNC Investment by 6.6% during the 4th quarter. Armstrong Advisory Group Inc. now owns 18,505 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock valued at $170,000 after acquiring an additional 1,150 shares during the period. Kovack Advisors Inc. lifted its stake in AGNC Investment by 0.5% during the 1st quarter. Kovack Advisors Inc. now owns 222,310 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock valued at $2,130,000 after acquiring an additional 1,186 shares during the period. Finally, CoreCap Advisors LLC lifted its stake in AGNC Investment by 34.8% during the 4th quarter. CoreCap Advisors LLC now owns 4,765 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock valued at $44,000 after acquiring an additional 1,229 shares during the period. 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).

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