AGNC Investment (NASDAQ:AGNC) Shares Up 0.7% - Should You Buy?

AGNC Investment Corp. (NASDAQ:AGNC - Get Free Report) rose 0.7% on Wednesday . The stock traded as high as $8.76 and last traded at $8.74. Approximately 4,326,475 shares traded hands during mid-day trading, a decline of 78% from the average daily volume of 19,548,814 shares. The stock had previously closed at $8.68.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several analysts have issued reports on AGNC shares. Royal Bank of Canada dropped their target price on AGNC Investment from $11.00 to $10.00 and set an "outperform" rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, April 29th. JMP Securities restated a "market perform" rating on shares of AGNC Investment in a report on Thursday, January 23rd. Wells Fargo & Company dropped their target price on shares of AGNC Investment from $11.00 to $10.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, April 22nd. StockNews.com cut shares of AGNC Investment from a "hold" rating to a "sell" rating in a report on Tuesday. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut their price target on AGNC Investment from $9.50 to $8.50 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, April 16th. 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. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $9.96.

AGNC Investment Price Performance

The firm has a market capitalization of $8.12 billion, a P/E ratio of 9.14 and a beta of 1.30. The business has a 50-day moving average of $9.27 and a 200 day 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 posted its quarterly earnings results on Monday, April 21st. The real estate investment trust reported $0.44 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $0.41 by $0.03. The company had revenue of $846.00 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $436.71 million. AGNC Investment had a net margin of 29.26% and a return on equity of 21.92%. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $0.58 EPS. On average, sell-side analysts predict that AGNC Investment Corp. will post 1.61 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

AGNC Investment Announces Dividend

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

Insider Activity

In related news, Director Donna Blank sold 17,218 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, May 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $8.67, for a total value of $149,280.06. Following the completion of the sale, the director now owns 90,345 shares in the company, valued at approximately $783,291.15. This represents a 16.01 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, EVP Bernice Bell sold 8,000 shares of AGNC Investment stock in a transaction that occurred 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 directly owns 374,019 shares in the company, valued at $3,321,288.72. The trade was a 2.09 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders sold 139,384 shares of company stock worth $1,228,039. Corporate insiders own 0.42% of the company's stock.

Institutional Trading of AGNC Investment

Several hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of AGNC. Fourth Dimension Wealth LLC bought a new stake in shares of AGNC Investment in the 4th quarter valued at about $26,000. Financial Life Planners purchased a new position in AGNC Investment during the 4th quarter worth $28,000. N.E.W. Advisory Services LLC purchased a new stake in shares of AGNC Investment during the first quarter worth about $28,000. National Bank of Canada FI grew its position in shares of 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. Finally, Larson Financial Group LLC boosted its holdings in AGNC Investment by 326.3% in the 1st 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 last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds 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).