Ruffer LLP Cuts Stock Position in AGNC Investment Corp. (NASDAQ:AGNC)

Key Points

• Ruffer LLP significantly reduced its ownership of AGNC Investment Corp., lowering its stake by 73.7% after selling 4,714,245 shares in the first quarter.
• AGNC Investment recently reported earnings of $0.38 EPS, which fell short of the consensus estimate of $0.42.
• The company declared a dividend of $0.12 per share, with an impressive dividend yield of 1,520.0%.

Ruffer LLP reduced its stake in AGNC Investment Corp. (NASDAQ:AGNC - Free Report) by 73.7% in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 1,685,570 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock after selling 4,714,245 shares during the period. Ruffer LLP owned 0.18% of AGNC Investment worth $16,147,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. Hsbc Holdings PLC raised its position in 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 in the last quarter. Kovack Advisors Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of 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 acquiring an additional 1,186 shares in the last quarter. CoreCap Advisors LLC increased its holdings 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 in the last quarter. IFP Advisors Inc lifted its holdings in AGNC Investment by 24.2% in the first quarter. IFP Advisors Inc now owns 6,479 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock valued at $62,000 after buying an additional 1,261 shares during the period. Finally, HB Wealth Management LLC raised its position in shares of AGNC Investment by 9.2% in the 1st quarter. HB Wealth Management LLC now owns 15,316 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock valued at $147,000 after acquiring an additional 1,296 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 38.28% of the company's stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

AGNC has been the subject of several research reports. Royal Bank Of Canada lowered 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. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods boosted their price target on AGNC Investment from $9.50 to $10.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research note on Thursday, July 10th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reduced their price target 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. 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 note on Tuesday, April 22nd. Finally, UBS Group boosted their price target on AGNC Investment from $8.50 to $9.50 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research note on Thursday, July 10th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have issued a hold rating and five have given a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $9.58.

AGNC Investment Trading Down 1.9%

Shares of NASDAQ AGNC traded down $0.18 during midday trading on Wednesday, reaching $9.42. The company had a trading volume of 16,588,080 shares, compared to its average volume of 21,208,812. The firm's fifty day moving average price is $9.32 and its 200-day moving average price is $9.45. AGNC Investment Corp. has a one year low of $7.85 and a one year high of $10.85. The stock has a market cap of $9.81 billion, a PE 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 (NASDAQ:AGNC - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data 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). The firm had revenue of $830.00 million for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $447.37 million. AGNC Investment had a net margin of 11.50% and a return on equity of 19.32%. During the same period last year, the company posted $0.53 earnings per share. On average, equities research analysts anticipate that AGNC Investment Corp. will post 1.61 earnings per share for the current year.

AGNC Investment Announces Dividend

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

Insider Buying and Selling

In other AGNC Investment news, Director Paul E. Mullings sold 11,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred 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 transaction, the director directly owned 128,511 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,234,990.71. This trade represents a 7.88% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, Director John D. Fisk sold 20,278 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Monday, July 28th. The stock was sold at an average price of $9.65, for a total value of $195,682.70. Following the completion of the sale, the director owned 112,685 shares of the company's stock, valued at $1,087,410.25. This trade represents 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.

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).