AGNC Investment (NASDAQ:AGNC) Trading Up 0.2%

AGNC Investment Corp. (NASDAQ:AGNC - Get Free Report) was up 0.2% during trading on Monday . The stock traded as high as $9.72 and last traded at $9.68. Approximately 2,415,222 shares changed hands during trading, a decline of 79% from the average daily volume of 11,547,577 shares. The stock had previously closed at $9.66.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research analysts have commented on AGNC shares. Barclays lifted their price objective 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. StockNews.com raised shares of AGNC Investment from a "sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Tuesday, March 12th. Jonestrading initiated coverage on shares of AGNC Investment in a research note on Friday, March 22nd. They set a "buy" rating and a $10.75 target price for the company. Compass Point initiated coverage on shares of AGNC Investment in a research note on Tuesday, February 20th. They set a "buy" rating and a $10.25 target price for the company. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada lowered their target price on shares of AGNC Investment from $11.00 to $10.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, January 25th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and four have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $9.93.

AGNC Investment Trading Up 0.4 %

The company has a market capitalization of $6.74 billion, a PE ratio of 970.97 and a beta of 1.45. 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's 50 day moving average is $9.60 and its two-hundred day moving average is $9.26.

AGNC Investment (NASDAQ:AGNC - Get Free Report) last announced its earnings results on Monday, January 29th. The real estate investment trust reported $0.60 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $0.49 by $0.11. The business had revenue of $640.00 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $570.42 million. AGNC Investment had a net margin of 7.59% and a return on equity of 28.02%. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $0.74 earnings per share. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that AGNC Investment Corp. will post 2.16 EPS for the current fiscal year.

AGNC Investment Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a mar 24 dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, April 9th. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 29th will be issued a $0.12 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, March 27th. This represents a yield of 14.8%. AGNC Investment's dividend payout ratio is presently 14,414.41%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

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

Hedge Funds Weigh In On AGNC Investment

Several hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Norges Bank acquired a new position in AGNC Investment in the 4th quarter worth approximately $69,215,000. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its position 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 purchasing an additional 6,019,268 shares in the last quarter. Virginia Retirement Systems ET AL purchased a new stake in AGNC Investment in the 2nd quarter worth approximately $52,644,000. Vaughan Nelson Investment Management L.P. purchased a new stake in AGNC Investment in the 4th quarter worth approximately $38,593,000. Finally, Clearbridge Investments LLC boosted its position in AGNC Investment by 85.6% in the 3rd quarter. Clearbridge Investments LLC now owns 7,301,298 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock worth $68,924,000 after purchasing an additional 3,367,112 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds 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).