AGNC Investment (NASDAQ:AGNC) Trading Up 1.6% Following Dividend Announcement

Shares of AGNC Investment Corp. (NASDAQ:AGNC - Get Free Report) were up 1.6% during mid-day trading on Thursday after the company announced a dividend. The stock traded as high as $8.86 and last traded at $8.86. Approximately 4,982,527 shares traded hands during mid-day trading, a decline of 75% from the average daily volume of 19,617,108 shares. The stock had previously closed at $8.72.The newly announced dividend which will be paid on Tuesday, June 10th. Stockholders of record on Friday, May 30th will be paid a dividend of $0.12 per share. AGNC Investment's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 360.00%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

AGNC has been the subject of several research reports. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods reduced their price objective on AGNC Investment from $10.75 to $10.25 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, January 29th. Argus reiterated a "hold" rating on shares of AGNC Investment in a research report on Tuesday, April 29th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. dropped their target price on shares of AGNC Investment from $9.50 to $8.50 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, April 16th. Wells Fargo & Company reduced their price target on shares of AGNC Investment from $11.00 to $10.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, April 22nd. Finally, Jones Trading dropped their price objective 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. 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 stock. According to MarketBeat.com, AGNC Investment has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $9.96.

AGNC Investment Stock Up 1.5 %

The stock has a market cap of $8.10 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 9.12 and a beta of 1.30. The firm's 50-day moving average is $9.30 and its 200 day moving average is $9.58. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.01, a current ratio of 0.23 and a quick ratio of 0.23.

AGNC Investment (NASDAQ:AGNC - Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results on Monday, April 21st. The real estate investment trust reported $0.44 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.41 by $0.03. AGNC Investment had a return on equity of 21.92% and a net margin of 29.26%. The business had revenue of $846.00 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $436.71 million. During the same period last year, the company posted $0.58 EPS. Sell-side analysts anticipate that AGNC Investment Corp. will post 1.61 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Transactions at AGNC Investment

In related news, 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 transaction of $429,197.04. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 1,643,088 shares in the company, valued at approximately $14,590,621.44. The trade was a 2.86 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, EVP Kenneth L. Pollack sold 17,500 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, April 29th. The shares were 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 owns 447,841 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $4,044,004.23. This represents a 3.76 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. 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. 0.42% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On AGNC Investment

A number of large investors have recently modified their holdings of AGNC. Hsbc Holdings PLC boosted its holdings in shares of AGNC Investment by 5.6% during the fourth 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 position in AGNC Investment by 5.3% in 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 purchasing an additional 1,075 shares during the last quarter. Armstrong Advisory Group Inc. boosted 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 purchasing an additional 1,150 shares during the period. Kovack Advisors Inc. grew its position in 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 worth $2,130,000 after purchasing an additional 1,186 shares during the last quarter. Finally, CoreCap Advisors LLC increased its stake in shares of AGNC Investment by 34.8% in the fourth quarter. CoreCap Advisors LLC now owns 4,765 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock valued at $44,000 after purchasing an additional 1,229 shares during the period. 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).

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