AGNC Investment Corp. (NASDAQ:AGNC) Receives Average Recommendation of "Moderate Buy" from Brokerages

AGNC Investment Corp. (NASDAQ:AGNC - Get Free Report) has received a consensus recommendation of "Moderate Buy" from the seven analysts that are presently covering the stock, Marketbeat.com reports. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and four have given a buy rating to the company. The average 12 month price objective among analysts that have issued ratings on the stock in the last year is $9.79.

A number of equities analysts have issued reports on AGNC shares. JMP Securities reaffirmed a "market perform" rating on shares of AGNC Investment in a research note on Thursday, April 18th. Royal Bank of Canada reduced their price objective on shares of AGNC Investment from $11.00 to $10.00 and set an "outperform" rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, January 25th. Compass Point started coverage on shares of AGNC Investment in a research note on Tuesday, February 20th. They issued a "buy" rating and a $10.25 price objective on the stock. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods reduced their price objective on shares of AGNC Investment from $10.00 to $9.50 and set an "outperform" rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, April 24th. Finally, Jonestrading reduced their price objective on shares of AGNC Investment from $10.75 to $10.25 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, April 23rd.

AGNC Investment Price Performance

Shares of AGNC Investment stock traded down $0.11 during midday trading on Wednesday, reaching $9.77. The company had a trading volume of 8,545,679 shares, compared to its average volume of 11,558,469. The company has a current ratio of 0.28, a quick ratio of 0.28 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.01. The company has a market capitalization of $7.10 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 10.74 and a beta of 1.45. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $9.55 and a 200 day simple moving average of $9.46. AGNC Investment has a 1-year low of $6.81 and a 1-year high of $10.64.

AGNC Investment (NASDAQ:AGNC - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, April 23rd. The real estate investment trust reported $0.58 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $0.56 by $0.02. The business had revenue of $642.00 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $568.38 million. AGNC Investment had a net margin of 32.12% and a return on equity of 27.14%. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $0.70 earnings per share. As a group, equities research analysts forecast that AGNC Investment will post 2.1 earnings per share for the current year.

AGNC Investment Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a may 24 dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, June 11th. Investors of record on Friday, May 31st will be issued a dividend of $0.12 per share. The ex-dividend date is Friday, May 31st. This represents a dividend yield of 14.9%. AGNC Investment's payout ratio is 158.24%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, CFO Bernice Bell sold 3,500 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Thursday, May 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $9.32, for a total transaction of $32,620.00. Following the sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 309,973 shares in the company, valued at $2,888,948.36. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. In related news, CFO Bernice Bell sold 3,500 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Thursday, May 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $9.32, for a total transaction of $32,620.00. Following the sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 309,973 shares in the company, valued at $2,888,948.36. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, Director Paul E. Mullings sold 5,400 shares of AGNC Investment stock in a transaction on Friday, May 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $9.40, for a total transaction of $50,760.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now owns 111,827 shares in the company, valued at $1,051,173.80. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 15,900 shares of company stock worth $149,030 over the last ninety days. Company insiders own 0.43% of the company's stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On AGNC Investment

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its stake in AGNC Investment by 3.7% in the 1st quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 65,735,466 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock valued at $650,781,000 after buying an additional 2,368,658 shares during the last quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC increased its stake in shares of AGNC Investment by 4.3% during the 1st quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC now owns 8,015,707 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock worth $79,355,000 after purchasing an additional 332,709 shares during the last quarter. Clearbridge Investments LLC increased its stake in shares of AGNC Investment by 1.1% during the 4th quarter. Clearbridge Investments LLC now owns 7,380,614 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock worth $72,404,000 after purchasing an additional 79,316 shares during the last quarter. Norges Bank acquired a new position in shares of AGNC Investment during the 4th quarter worth about $69,215,000. Finally, Equity Investment Corp increased its stake in shares of AGNC Investment by 16.2% during the 1st quarter. Equity Investment Corp now owns 6,870,571 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock worth $68,019,000 after purchasing an additional 957,139 shares during the last quarter. 38.28% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

About AGNC Investment

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).