AGNC Investment (NASDAQ:AGNC) Trading 0.4% Higher - Here's What Happened

Shares of AGNC Investment Corp. (NASDAQ:AGNC - Get Free Report) shot up 0.4% during mid-day trading on Thursday . The stock traded as high as $8.99 and last traded at $9.00. 8,111,791 shares were traded during trading, a decline of 59% from the average session volume of 19,993,846 shares. The stock had previously closed at $8.96.

Analyst Ratings Changes

AGNC has been the topic of several research analyst reports. Wells Fargo & Company decreased their target price on shares of AGNC Investment from $11.00 to $10.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, April 22nd. Argus restated a "hold" rating on shares of AGNC Investment in a research report on Tuesday, April 29th. JMP Securities restated a "market perform" rating on shares of AGNC Investment in a research report on Thursday, January 23rd. Jones Trading reduced their target price on shares of AGNC Investment from $10.25 to $9.50 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, April 22nd. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods dropped their target price on shares of AGNC Investment from $10.75 to $10.25 and set an "outperform" rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, January 29th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have issued a hold rating and seven have given a buy rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $9.96.

AGNC Investment Trading Up 1.1%

The company has a current ratio of 0.23, a quick ratio of 0.23 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.01. The firm has a market capitalization of $9.24 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 9.34 and a beta of 1.30. The firm's 50-day moving average is $9.16 and its 200 day moving average is $9.54.

AGNC Investment (NASDAQ:AGNC - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Monday, April 21st. The real estate investment trust reported $0.44 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.41 by $0.03. AGNC Investment had a net margin of 29.26% and a return on equity of 21.92%. The company had revenue of $846.00 million during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $436.71 million. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned $0.58 earnings per share. On average, equities analysts predict 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 issued a dividend of $0.12 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, May 30th. This represents a dividend yield of 16.2%. AGNC Investment's payout ratio is 360.00%.

Insider Buying and Selling at AGNC Investment

In other news, CEO Peter J. Federico sold 48,333 shares of AGNC Investment stock in a transaction dated Friday, April 25th. The stock was sold at an average price of $8.70, for a total value of $420,497.10. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 1,691,421 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $14,715,362.70. The trade was a 2.78% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, EVP Kenneth L. Pollack sold 17,500 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, April 29th. The stock was sold at an average price of $9.03, for a total transaction of $158,025.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now owns 447,841 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,044,004.23. This trade represents a 3.76% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 139,384 shares of company stock worth $1,228,039 in the last three months. 0.42% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Institutional Trading of AGNC Investment

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the business. Hsbc Holdings PLC increased its position in shares of AGNC Investment by 5.6% in the fourth quarter. Hsbc Holdings PLC now owns 18,259 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock valued at $168,000 after buying an additional 970 shares in the last quarter. CIBC Asset Management Inc increased its stake in AGNC Investment by 5.3% in the fourth quarter. CIBC Asset Management Inc now owns 21,428 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock valued at $197,000 after purchasing an additional 1,075 shares during the period. Armstrong Advisory Group Inc. lifted its stake in shares of AGNC Investment by 6.6% in the 4th quarter. Armstrong Advisory Group Inc. now owns 18,505 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock worth $170,000 after acquiring an additional 1,150 shares during the period. Kovack Advisors Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of AGNC Investment by 0.5% in 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 buying an additional 1,186 shares during the period. Finally, CoreCap Advisors LLC boosted its stake in shares of 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 worth $44,000 after acquiring an additional 1,229 shares in 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).

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