Avantax Advisory Services Inc. Increases Stock Position in AGNC Investment Corp. (NASDAQ:AGNC)

Key Points

• Avantax Advisory Services Inc. has increased its holdings in AGNC Investment Corp. by 73% in the first quarter, now owning 127,866 shares valued at approximately $1.23 million.
• The company recently reported earnings per share (EPS) of $0.38, missing expectations by $0.04, while revenue significantly exceeded estimates at $830 million.
• AGNC Investment declared a $0.12 dividend payable on August 11, 2023, reflecting a staggering dividend yield of 1,520.0% despite a high payout ratio of 423.53%.

Avantax Advisory Services Inc. grew its holdings in shares of AGNC Investment Corp. (NASDAQ:AGNC - Free Report) by 73.0% in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 127,866 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock after acquiring an additional 53,968 shares during the quarter. Avantax Advisory Services Inc.'s holdings in AGNC Investment were worth $1,225,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other large investors have also recently modified their holdings of the business. Vaughan Nelson Investment Management L.P. lifted its holdings in shares of AGNC Investment by 18.0% during the first 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. Geode Capital Management LLC raised its stake in AGNC Investment by 18.8% during the 4th quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 14,614,721 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock valued at $134,645,000 after purchasing an additional 2,311,105 shares during the period. Equity Investment Corp raised its stake in AGNC Investment by 8.2% during the 1st quarter. Equity Investment Corp now owns 7,395,081 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock valued at $70,845,000 after purchasing an additional 562,700 shares during the period. Northern Trust Corp grew its holdings in AGNC Investment by 24.9% during the 4th quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 6,378,470 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock valued at $58,746,000 after buying an additional 1,273,565 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Raymond James Financial Inc. purchased a new position in AGNC Investment during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $39,840,000. Institutional investors own 38.28% of the company's stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research firms recently issued reports on AGNC. UBS Group boosted their price objective on AGNC Investment from $8.50 to $9.50 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a report on Thursday, July 10th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reduced their price target on AGNC Investment from $9.50 to $8.50 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, April 16th. Wall Street Zen lowered AGNC Investment from a "hold" rating to a "sell" rating in a research report on Tuesday, May 6th. Argus reissued a "hold" rating on shares of AGNC Investment in a research report on Tuesday, April 29th. Finally, Royal Bank Of Canada reduced their price target on AGNC Investment from $11.00 to $10.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, April 29th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have issued a hold rating and five have issued a buy rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $9.58.

AGNC Investment Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:AGNC traded down $0.18 during midday trading on Wednesday, hitting $9.42. The company had a trading volume of 16,524,889 shares, compared to its average volume of 26,121,002. AGNC Investment Corp. has a twelve month low of $7.85 and a twelve month high of $10.85. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.01, a current ratio of 0.33 and a quick ratio of 0.28. The stock has a market cap of $9.81 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 27.71 and a beta of 1.28. The business's 50-day simple moving average is $9.32 and its 200-day simple moving average is $9.45.

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

AGNC Investment Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a jul 25 dividend, which will be paid on Monday, August 11th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, July 31st will be paid a dividend of $0.12 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, July 31st. This represents a yield of 1,520.0%. AGNC Investment's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 423.53%.

Insider Buying and Selling at AGNC Investment

In other news, Director John D. Fisk sold 20,278 shares of the firm'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 completion of the transaction, the director directly owned 112,685 shares in the company, valued at $1,087,410.25. This trade represents a 15.25% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, Director Paul E. Mullings sold 11,000 shares of AGNC Investment stock in a transaction on Friday, July 25th. The shares were 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 of the company's stock, valued at approximately $1,234,990.71. This trade represents a 7.88% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.42% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

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).