AGNC Investment (NASDAQ:AGNC) Shares Up 0.3%

AGNC Investment Corp. (NASDAQ:AGNC - Get Free Report) shares were up 0.3% during mid-day trading on Thursday . The company traded as high as $9.35 and last traded at $9.28. Approximately 1,698,631 shares changed hands during mid-day trading, a decline of 86% from the average daily volume of 11,819,263 shares. The stock had previously closed at $9.25.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities analysts recently issued reports on AGNC shares. JMP Securities reiterated a "market perform" rating on shares of AGNC Investment in a research report on Thursday, April 18th. Royal Bank of Canada decreased 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 report on Thursday, January 25th. Barclays increased their target price on shares of AGNC Investment from $8.00 to $9.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a research report on Monday, January 22nd. Jonestrading decreased their target price on shares of AGNC Investment from $10.75 to $10.25 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, April 23rd. Finally, StockNews.com upgraded shares of AGNC Investment from a "sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Tuesday, March 12th. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and four have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, AGNC Investment presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $9.79.

AGNC Investment Stock Performance

The firm's fifty day simple moving average is $9.53 and its 200 day simple moving average is $9.27. The company has a market capitalization of $6.46 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 10.22 and a beta of 1.45. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.01, a current ratio of 0.26 and a quick ratio of 0.26.

AGNC Investment (NASDAQ:AGNC - Get Free Report) last announced 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 net margin of 32.12% and a return on equity of 27.92%. The company had revenue of $642.00 million during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $568.38 million. During the same period last year, the company posted $0.70 earnings per share. On average, sell-side analysts forecast that AGNC Investment Corp. will post 2.1 EPS for the current year.

AGNC Investment Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a apr 24 dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, May 9th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, April 30th will be given a $0.12 dividend. This represents a dividend yield of 15.4%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, April 29th. AGNC Investment's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 158.24%.

Insider Transactions at AGNC Investment

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

Hedge Funds Weigh In On AGNC Investment

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Vaughan Nelson Investment Management L.P. bought a new position in AGNC Investment during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $38,593,000. Citigroup Inc. raised its position in AGNC Investment by 103.2% during the third quarter. Citigroup Inc. now owns 185,721 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock valued at $1,753,000 after acquiring an additional 94,332 shares in the last quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp raised its position in shares of AGNC Investment by 4.7% in the third quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp now owns 1,752,044 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock valued at $16,539,000 after purchasing an additional 78,253 shares during the period. Stifel Financial Corp raised its position in shares of AGNC Investment by 48.0% in the third quarter. Stifel Financial Corp now owns 451,460 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock valued at $4,262,000 after purchasing an additional 146,406 shares during the period. Finally, QRG Capital Management Inc. bought a new position in shares of AGNC Investment in the third quarter valued at approximately $3,655,000. Institutional investors own 38.28% of the company's stock.

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).