AIA Group Ltd Increases Position in AGNC Investment Corp. (NASDAQ:AGNC)

Key Points

• AIA Group Ltd increased its stake in AGNC Investment Corp. by 26.7%, acquiring an additional 36,072 shares for a total worth of $1,638,000 during the 1st quarter.
• Analysts have mixed views on AGNC Investment, with several upgrades suggesting a potential price target increase, while the consensus rating remains a "Hold" with a price target of $9.58.
• The company announced a $0.12 per share monthly dividend, yielding 15.4%, with a payout ratio of 423.53%.

AIA Group Ltd raised its position in AGNC Investment Corp. (NASDAQ:AGNC - Free Report) by 26.7% in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The firm owned 170,985 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock after acquiring an additional 36,072 shares during the period. AIA Group Ltd's holdings in AGNC Investment were worth $1,638,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other large investors have also modified their holdings of AGNC. Raymond James Financial Inc. purchased a new position in shares of AGNC Investment during the 4th quarter worth approximately $39,840,000. Nuveen LLC purchased a new position in AGNC Investment in the 1st quarter valued at approximately $30,546,000. Vaughan Nelson Investment Management L.P. increased its stake in AGNC Investment by 18.0% in the 1st quarter. Vaughan Nelson Investment Management L.P. now owns 16,996,741 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock valued at $162,828,000 after purchasing an additional 2,589,020 shares in the last quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its stake in AGNC Investment by 3.0% in the 1st quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 85,779,209 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock valued at $821,765,000 after purchasing an additional 2,462,337 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Citigroup Inc. increased its stake in AGNC Investment by 496.7% in the 1st quarter. Citigroup Inc. now owns 1,487,202 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock valued at $14,247,000 after purchasing an additional 1,862,128 shares in the last quarter. 38.28% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Activity

In other AGNC Investment news, Director Paul E. Mullings sold 11,000 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, July 25th. The stock was sold at an average price of $9.61, for a total value of $105,710.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director owned 128,511 shares in the company, valued at $1,234,990.71. This represents a 7.88% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, Director John D. Fisk sold 20,278 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Monday, July 28th. The stock was sold at an average price of $9.65, for a total transaction of $195,682.70. Following the transaction, the director directly owned 112,685 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,087,410.25. The trade was a 15.25% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Company insiders own 0.42% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities analysts recently weighed in on AGNC shares. JPMorgan Chase & Co. dropped their price objective 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. Wall Street Zen downgraded AGNC Investment from a "hold" rating to a "sell" rating in a research report on Tuesday, May 6th. Wells Fargo & Company dropped their price target on AGNC Investment from $11.00 to $10.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, April 22nd. Argus reissued a "hold" rating on shares of AGNC Investment in a research report on Tuesday, April 29th. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods raised their price target on AGNC Investment from $9.50 to $10.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research report on Thursday, July 10th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have given a hold rating and five have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, AGNC Investment has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $9.58.

AGNC Investment Trading Down 0.5%

Shares of AGNC stock traded down $0.05 during mid-day trading on Thursday, hitting $9.61. 10,299,057 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 25,693,893. AGNC Investment Corp. has a fifty-two week low of $7.85 and a fifty-two week high of $10.85. The stock has a market cap of $10.01 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 28.27 and a beta of 1.28. The company has a quick ratio of 0.33, a current ratio of 0.33 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.01. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $9.38 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $9.44.

AGNC Investment (NASDAQ:AGNC - Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results on Monday, July 21st. The real estate investment trust reported $0.38 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts' consensus estimates of $0.42 by ($0.04). AGNC Investment had a net margin of 11.50% and a return on equity of 19.32%. The firm had revenue of $830.00 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $447.37 million. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $0.53 EPS. Equities analysts expect that AGNC Investment Corp. will post 1.61 EPS for the current fiscal year.

AGNC Investment Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a monthly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, September 10th. Investors of record on Friday, August 29th will be issued a dividend of $0.12 per share. This represents a c) annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 15.0%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, August 29th. AGNC Investment's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 423.53%.

AGNC Investment 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).