AGNC Investment (NASDAQ:AGNC) Trading Up 1.1%

AGNC Investment Corp. (NASDAQ:AGNC - Get Free Report) shares traded up 1.1% during mid-day trading on Friday . The company traded as high as $9.39 and last traded at $9.34. 4,507,515 shares changed hands during mid-day trading, a decline of 62% from the average session volume of 11,821,376 shares. The stock had previously closed at $9.24.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of brokerages have recently issued reports on AGNC. Compass Point assumed coverage on shares of AGNC Investment in a research report on Tuesday, February 20th. They set a "buy" rating and a $10.25 price objective for the company. Barclays raised their price objective on 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 reiterated a "market perform" rating on shares of AGNC Investment in a research note on Thursday, April 18th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods lowered their price target on shares of AGNC Investment from $10.00 to $9.50 and set an "outperform" rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday. Finally, Jonestrading decreased 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 report on Tuesday. Four analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and four have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, AGNC Investment presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $9.79.

AGNC Investment Stock Performance

The firm has a market cap of $6.48 billion, a PE ratio of 10.25 and a beta of 1.45. The firm's 50 day simple moving average is $9.55 and its 200 day simple moving average is $9.26. The company has a current ratio of 0.26, a quick ratio of 0.26 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.01.

AGNC Investment (NASDAQ:AGNC - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, April 23rd. The real estate investment trust reported $0.58 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $0.56 by $0.02. AGNC Investment had a return on equity of 27.92% and a net margin of 32.12%. The company had revenue of $642.00 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $568.38 million. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $0.70 earnings per share. On average, research analysts forecast that AGNC Investment Corp. will post 2.18 EPS for the current fiscal year.

AGNC Investment Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a apr 24 dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, May 9th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, April 30th will be paid a $0.12 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Monday, April 29th. This represents a dividend yield of 15.4%. AGNC Investment's payout ratio is currently 158.24%.

Insider Activity

In other AGNC Investment news, Director Frances Spark sold 5,000 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, April 24th. The stock was sold at an average price of $9.35, for a total transaction of $46,750.00. Following the sale, the director now directly owns 75,545 shares of the company's stock, valued at $706,345.75. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Corporate insiders own 0.52% of the company's stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of AGNC. LifePro Asset Management boosted its stake in shares of AGNC Investment by 33.7% during the 1st quarter. LifePro Asset Management now owns 303,543 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock worth $3,005,000 after purchasing an additional 76,468 shares during the period. Verity & Verity LLC purchased a new position in AGNC Investment during the 1st quarter valued at $45,000. Bell Bank increased its stake in AGNC Investment by 1.5% in the first quarter. Bell Bank now owns 564,106 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock worth $5,585,000 after purchasing an additional 8,601 shares during the period. Global Retirement Partners LLC grew its holdings in shares of AGNC Investment by 12.3% in the first quarter. Global Retirement Partners LLC now owns 11,303 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock worth $112,000 after purchasing an additional 1,238 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Nicholas Hoffman & Company LLC. grew its holdings in shares of AGNC Investment by 4.6% in the first quarter. Nicholas Hoffman & Company LLC. now owns 51,788 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock worth $513,000 after purchasing an additional 2,274 shares during the last quarter. 38.28% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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).

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