Traders Buy High Volume of AGNC Investment Put Options (NASDAQ:AGNC)

AGNC Investment Corp. (NASDAQ:AGNC - Get Free Report) was the target of some unusual options trading on Monday. Stock traders bought 38,677 put options on the company. This is an increase of approximately 65% compared to the typical volume of 23,372 put options.

AGNC Investment Stock Performance

AGNC traded down $0.18 during mid-day trading on Monday, reaching $9.13. 13,510,064 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 11,766,568. AGNC Investment has a 52-week low of $6.81 and a 52-week high of $10.64. The company's fifty day moving average price is $9.59 and its 200-day moving average price is $9.26. The company has a quick ratio of 0.26, a current ratio of 0.26 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.01. The stock has a market capitalization of $6.35 billion, a P/E ratio of 913.91 and a beta of 1.45.

AGNC Investment (NASDAQ:AGNC - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results on Monday, January 29th. The real estate investment trust reported $0.60 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.49 by $0.11. The firm had revenue of $640.00 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $570.42 million. AGNC Investment had a net margin of 7.59% and a return on equity of 28.02%. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $0.74 EPS. On average, sell-side analysts expect that AGNC Investment will post 2.16 EPS for the current year.

AGNC Investment Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a apr 24 dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, May 9th. Investors of record on Tuesday, April 30th will be issued a $0.12 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, April 29th. This represents a yield of 15.4%. AGNC Investment's dividend payout ratio is currently 14,414.41%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several analysts have weighed in on the company. Royal Bank of Canada cut their price objective on AGNC Investment from $11.00 to $10.00 and set an "outperform" rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, January 25th. Jonestrading initiated coverage on AGNC Investment in a research report on Friday, March 22nd. They set a "buy" rating and a $10.75 price objective for the company. StockNews.com raised shares of AGNC Investment from a "sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Tuesday, March 12th. Barclays raised their price objective on AGNC Investment from $8.00 to $9.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a research report on Monday, January 22nd. Finally, Compass Point began coverage on shares of AGNC Investment in a report on Tuesday, February 20th. They issued a "buy" rating and a $10.25 target price for the company. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and four have issued a buy rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $9.93.

Insider Buying and Selling at AGNC Investment

In related news, CFO Bernice Bell sold 10,000 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Friday, January 26th. The stock was sold at an average price of $9.85, for a total value of $98,500.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer now owns 287,282 shares of the company's stock, valued at $2,829,727.70. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. 0.43% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Trading of AGNC Investment

Hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its holdings in AGNC Investment by 10.5% in the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 63,366,808 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock worth $621,628,000 after buying an additional 6,019,268 shares during the period. BlackRock Inc. grew its position in shares of AGNC Investment by 1.6% during the first quarter. BlackRock Inc. now owns 33,303,058 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock worth $335,695,000 after purchasing an additional 523,955 shares in the last quarter. State Street Corp raised its stake in AGNC Investment by 2.7% during the 2nd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 15,338,384 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock valued at $157,098,000 after purchasing an additional 402,771 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its holdings in AGNC Investment by 3.5% in the 1st quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 8,438,287 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock worth $85,058,000 after purchasing an additional 287,134 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC boosted its stake in AGNC Investment by 5.4% in the 4th quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC now owns 7,682,998 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock worth $75,370,000 after purchasing an additional 395,796 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 38.28% of the company's stock.

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).