SCS Capital Management LLC Buys Shares of 48,628 AGNC Investment Corp. $AGNC

Key Points

• SCS Capital Management LLC invested $466,000 in AGNC Investment Corp., acquiring 48,628 shares during the first quarter, indicating strong institutional interest.
• AGNC reported a quarterly earnings miss with $0.38 EPS against expectations of $0.42, despite a significant revenue of $830 million.
• The company declared a $0.12 per share dividend with a payout ratio of 423.53%, highlighting its ongoing commitment to returning value to shareholders.

SCS Capital Management LLC purchased a new position in AGNC Investment Corp. (NASDAQ:AGNC - Free Report) in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund purchased 48,628 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock, valued at approximately $466,000.

Other hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its stake in AGNC Investment by 3.0% in the first 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 during the last quarter. Vaughan Nelson Investment Management L.P. grew its position in shares of 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 worth $162,828,000 after buying an additional 2,589,020 shares during the last quarter. Equity Investment Corp grew its position in shares of AGNC Investment by 8.2% in the 1st quarter. Equity Investment Corp now owns 7,395,081 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock worth $70,845,000 after buying an additional 562,700 shares during the last quarter. Natixis Advisors LLC raised its stake in shares of AGNC Investment by 21.1% during the 1st quarter. Natixis Advisors LLC now owns 4,318,354 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock worth $41,370,000 after acquiring an additional 752,201 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Davidson Investment Advisors lifted its position in AGNC Investment by 3.0% during the first quarter. Davidson Investment Advisors now owns 3,428,281 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock valued at $32,843,000 after acquiring an additional 101,011 shares during the last quarter. 38.28% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

AGNC has been the topic of a number of recent analyst reports. UBS Group upped their price target on AGNC Investment from $9.50 to $9.75 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research report on Wednesday, September 3rd. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods upped their target price on AGNC Investment from $9.50 to $10.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research report on Thursday, July 10th. Finally, Jones Trading reissued a "buy" rating and issued a $9.50 price target on shares of AGNC Investment in a report on Tuesday, July 22nd. Five analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and three have issued a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, AGNC Investment presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $9.63.

Insider Transactions at AGNC Investment

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

AGNC Investment Stock Performance

AGNC stock traded down $0.05 during midday trading on Friday, reaching $10.18. The stock had a trading volume of 14,390,725 shares, compared to its average volume of 18,598,004. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $9.66 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $9.39. AGNC Investment Corp. has a 52-week low of $7.85 and a 52-week high of $10.85. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.01, a quick ratio of 0.33 and a current ratio of 0.33. The stock has a market cap of $10.60 billion, a PE ratio of 29.94 and a beta of 1.30.

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 earnings per share 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 firm had revenue of $830.00 million for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $447.37 million. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $0.53 EPS. As a group, equities research analysts anticipate that AGNC Investment Corp. will post 1.61 EPS for the current year.

AGNC Investment Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a sep 25 dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, October 9th. Investors of record on Tuesday, September 30th will be given a dividend of $0.12 per share. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, September 30th. This represents a yield of 1,408.0%. AGNC Investment's payout ratio is currently 423.53%.

AGNC Investment Company 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).