Balefire LLC Sells 134,233 Shares of AGNC Investment Corp. $AGNC

Key Points

• Balefire LLC cut its AGNC Investment stake by 60.9% in the third quarter, selling 134,233 shares and retaining 86,079 shares valued at approximately $781,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds collectively own 38.28% of AGNC.
• AGNC shares opened at $8.67, near their 12-month low of $8.41, while analysts’ consensus rating remained “Hold” with an average price target of $10.89.
• AGNC declared a monthly dividend of $0.12 per share, equivalent to $1.44 annually and a 16.6% yield; its latest quarterly earnings of $0.40 per share exceeded the $0.38 consensus estimate.

Balefire LLC reduced its position in shares of AGNC Investment Corp. (NASDAQ:AGNC - Free Report) by 60.9% in the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 86,079 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock after selling 134,233 shares during the period. Balefire LLC's holdings in AGNC Investment were worth $781,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in AGNC. BlackRock Inc. purchased a new position in AGNC Investment in the second quarter valued at about $704,076,000. Equity Investment Corp acquired a new stake in shares of AGNC Investment in the 2nd quarter worth approximately $106,123,000. Bank of America Corp DE purchased a new position in AGNC Investment in the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $77,501,000. Bank of New York Mellon Corp purchased a new position in AGNC Investment in the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $40,182,000. Finally, Advisors Capital Management LLC acquired a new position in AGNC Investment during the second quarter worth $35,421,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 38.28% of the company's stock.

AGNC Investment Trading Down 0.1%

Shares of NASDAQ AGNC opened at $8.67 on Friday. AGNC Investment Corp. has a 12-month low of $8.41 and a 12-month high of $12.19. The company has a market cap of $10.28 billion, a P/E ratio of 4.56 and a beta of 1.36. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $10.21 and a 200 day moving average price of $10.45.

AGNC Investment (NASDAQ:AGNC - Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results on Monday, July 20th. The real estate investment trust reported $0.40 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.38 by $0.02. The company had revenue of $305.00 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.06 billion. AGNC Investment had a return on equity of 17.96% and a net margin of 57.94%. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned ($0.17) earnings per share. On average, sell-side analysts forecast that AGNC Investment Corp. will post 1.60 EPS for the current fiscal year.

AGNC Investment Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a monthly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, November 10th. Shareholders of record on Friday, October 30th will be issued a $0.12 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Friday, October 30th. This represents a $1.44 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 16.6%. AGNC Investment's payout ratio is currently 75.79%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other AGNC Investment news, EVP Bernice Bell sold 5,000 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, July 28th. The shares were sold at an average price of $11.00, for a total value of $55,000.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president directly owned 406,947 shares of the company's stock, valued at $4,476,417. This represents a 1.21% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. 0.40% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

AGNC has been the topic of several research reports. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods lowered their target price on AGNC Investment from $12.00 to $11.00 and set a "market perform" rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, July 22nd. Compass Point downgraded AGNC Investment from a "buy" rating to a "neutral" rating and set a $11.50 price target for the company. in a research note on Friday, July 17th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reiterated a "neutral" rating and issued a $11.50 price objective (up from $11.00) on shares of AGNC Investment in a research report on Friday, July 17th. Wells Fargo & Company lowered their price objective on shares of AGNC Investment from $12.00 to $11.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, July 23rd. Finally, Weiss Ratings downgraded shares of AGNC Investment from a "buy (b-)" rating to a "hold (c+)" rating in a report on Thursday. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and eight have given a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, AGNC Investment presently has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $10.89.

AGNC Investment Profile

AGNC Investment Corp. is an internally managed real estate investment trust that invests primarily in agency residential mortgage-backed securities. Its portfolio generally includes mortgage pass-through securities and collateralized mortgage obligations issued or guaranteed by Fannie Mae, Freddie Mac, or Ginnie Mae. Because these securities carry government or government-sponsored enterprise backing, the company's investment strategy focuses on interest-rate and prepayment risks rather than traditional residential credit risk.

AGNC finances its investments largely through repurchase agreements and uses interest-rate swaps, swaptions, and other hedging instruments to manage exposure to changing interest rates and funding costs.

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