Cetera Investment Advisers Raises Position in AGNC Investment Corp. (NASDAQ:AGNC)

Key Points

• Cetera Investment Advisers increased its ownership in AGNC Investment Corp. by 36% with the acquisition of 167,101 shares, bringing its total to 630,800 shares worth approximately $6 million.
• The real estate investment trust reported earnings of $0.38 per share, missing analysts' expectations of $0.42, while revenue significantly exceeded projections at $830 million versus the expected $447 million.
• AGNC Investment recently announced a dividend of $0.12 per share, representing a yield of 1,520%, with a payout ratio of 423.53%.

Cetera Investment Advisers raised its stake in AGNC Investment Corp. (NASDAQ:AGNC - Free Report) by 36.0% during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 630,800 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock after acquiring an additional 167,101 shares during the period. Cetera Investment Advisers owned approximately 0.07% of AGNC Investment worth $6,043,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Raymond James Financial Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of AGNC Investment in the 4th quarter worth approximately $39,840,000. Vaughan Nelson Investment Management L.P. increased its stake in shares of AGNC Investment by 18.0% in the first quarter. Vaughan Nelson Investment Management L.P. now owns 16,996,741 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock worth $162,828,000 after acquiring an additional 2,589,020 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its holdings in AGNC Investment by 18.8% during the fourth quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 14,614,721 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock worth $134,645,000 after buying an additional 2,311,105 shares in the last quarter. Northern Trust Corp lifted its holdings in AGNC Investment by 24.9% during the fourth quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 6,378,470 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock valued at $58,746,000 after purchasing an additional 1,273,565 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Evergreen Capital Management LLC lifted its holdings in AGNC Investment by 4,964.4% during the fourth quarter. Evergreen Capital Management LLC now owns 872,856 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock valued at $8,142,000 after purchasing an additional 855,621 shares in the last quarter. 38.28% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of brokerages have weighed in on AGNC. Wells Fargo & Company dropped their price target on shares of AGNC Investment from $11.00 to $10.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, April 22nd. Royal Bank Of Canada reduced their price objective on shares of AGNC Investment from $11.00 to $10.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, April 29th. Argus restated a "hold" rating on shares of AGNC Investment in a research report on Tuesday, April 29th. Wall Street Zen cut shares of AGNC Investment from a "hold" rating to a "sell" rating in a report on Tuesday, May 6th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. dropped their price objective on shares of AGNC Investment from $9.50 to $8.50 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, April 16th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have given a hold rating and five have issued a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $9.58.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, Director John D. Fisk sold 20,278 shares of AGNC Investment stock in a transaction that occurred 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 sale, the director directly owned 112,685 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $1,087,410.25. This trade represents a 15.25% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through 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 directly owned 128,511 shares of the company's stock, valued at $1,234,990.71. This 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 Stock Performance

Shares of AGNC stock traded down $0.18 during trading hours on Wednesday, reaching $9.42. 16,524,889 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 26,121,002. The stock has a market capitalization of $9.81 billion, a P/E ratio of 27.71 and a beta of 1.28. The company has a quick ratio of 0.28, a current ratio of 0.33 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.01. AGNC Investment Corp. has a fifty-two week low of $7.85 and a fifty-two week high of $10.85. The business has a fifty day moving average price of $9.32 and a 200-day moving average price of $9.45.

AGNC Investment (NASDAQ:AGNC - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Monday, July 21st. The real estate investment trust reported $0.38 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts' consensus estimates of $0.42 by ($0.04). AGNC Investment had a return on equity of 19.32% and a net margin of 11.50%. The business 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 firm posted $0.53 EPS. Analysts predict that AGNC Investment Corp. will post 1.61 EPS for the current fiscal year.

AGNC Investment Announces Dividend

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