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

AGNC Investment Corp. (NASDAQ:AGNC - Get Free Report) was the recipient of some unusual options trading activity on Tuesday. Stock investors acquired 81,270 put options on the company. This represents an increase of approximately 197% compared to the average volume of 27,361 put options.

AGNC Investment Trading Down 1.0 %

Shares of AGNC stock traded down $0.09 on Tuesday, hitting $9.15. 8,998,350 shares of the company's stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 11,875,578. The stock has a market capitalization of $6.36 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 10.06 and a beta of 1.45. AGNC Investment has a one year low of $6.81 and a one year high of $10.64. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.01, a quick ratio of 0.26 and a current ratio of 0.26. The company's fifty day simple moving average is $9.54 and its 200 day simple moving average is $9.27.

AGNC Investment (NASDAQ:AGNC - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, April 23rd. The real estate investment trust reported $0.58 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.56 by $0.02. AGNC Investment had a return on equity of 27.92% and a net margin of 32.12%. The business had revenue of $642.00 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $568.38 million. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $0.70 earnings per share. Equities analysts forecast that AGNC Investment will post 2.1 EPS for the current year.

AGNC Investment Announces Dividend

The company 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. This represents a yield of 15.4%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, April 29th. AGNC Investment's dividend payout ratio is 158.24%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

AGNC has been the topic of a number of research analyst reports. Royal Bank of Canada cut their price target on shares of AGNC Investment from $11.00 to $10.00 and set an "outperform" rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, January 25th. Barclays raised their price target on shares of AGNC Investment from $8.00 to $9.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a research note on Monday, January 22nd. JMP Securities reissued a "market perform" rating on shares of AGNC Investment in a research report on Thursday, April 18th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods dropped their price target on AGNC Investment from $10.00 to $9.50 and set an "outperform" rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, April 24th. Finally, Jonestrading lowered their price objective on AGNC Investment from $10.75 to $10.25 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, April 23rd. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and four have given a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $9.79.

Insider Buying and Selling at AGNC Investment

In other AGNC Investment news, Director Frances Spark sold 5,000 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, April 24th. The shares were sold at an average price of $9.35, for a total transaction of $46,750.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 75,545 shares in the company, valued at approximately $706,345.75. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Company insiders own 0.43% of the company's stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On AGNC Investment

Several large investors have recently made changes to their positions in AGNC. Norges Bank bought a new position in AGNC Investment in the 4th quarter valued at $69,215,000. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its holdings in shares of AGNC Investment by 10.5% in the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 63,366,808 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock valued at $621,628,000 after purchasing an additional 6,019,268 shares during the period. Vaughan Nelson Investment Management L.P. acquired a new stake in shares of AGNC Investment during the fourth quarter worth about $38,593,000. Clearbridge Investments LLC boosted its position in AGNC Investment by 85.6% in the third quarter. Clearbridge Investments LLC now owns 7,301,298 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock valued at $68,924,000 after buying an additional 3,367,112 shares during the last quarter. Finally, GRS Advisors LLC acquired a new position in AGNC Investment in the 4th quarter worth approximately $32,509,000. 38.28% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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).