AGNC Investment Sees Unusually Large Options Volume (NASDAQ:AGNC)

Key Points

• Unusual bearish options activity: Traders purchased 30,394 put options on AGNC Investment, 26% above its typical daily volume.
• Mixed analyst sentiment: AGNC has an average rating of “Hold,” with four Buy ratings and seven Hold ratings and a consensus price target of $11.11.
• Shares and dividend: AGNC shares fell to $9.81, near their 12-month low, while the company declared a monthly $0.12 dividend, representing an indicated yield of approximately 14.7%.

AGNC Investment Corp. (NASDAQ:AGNC - Get Free Report) saw some unusual options trading activity on Wednesday. Stock traders purchased 30,394 put options on the company. This represents an increase of 26% compared to the typical daily volume of 24,149 put options.

Insider Activity

In other news, EVP Bernice Bell sold 5,000 shares of AGNC Investment stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, July 28th. The shares were sold at an average price of $11.00, for a total transaction of $55,000.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president owned 406,947 shares in the company, valued at $4,476,417. The trade was a 1.21% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Company insiders own 0.40% of the company's stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of AGNC. Bullseye Investment Management LLC bought a new stake in AGNC Investment in the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $34,000. MCF Advisors LLC raised its holdings in shares of AGNC Investment by 254.1% in the second quarter. MCF Advisors LLC now owns 2,408 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock valued at $27,000 after purchasing an additional 1,728 shares during the last quarter. WINTON GROUP Ltd lifted its position in shares of AGNC Investment by 254.4% in the second quarter. WINTON GROUP Ltd now owns 60,600 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock worth $661,000 after purchasing an additional 43,500 shares in the last quarter. Integrated Wealth Concepts LLC lifted its position in shares of AGNC Investment by 3.4% in the second quarter. Integrated Wealth Concepts LLC now owns 41,234 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock worth $449,000 after purchasing an additional 1,365 shares in the last quarter. Finally, NewEdge Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in AGNC Investment by 13.3% during the second quarter. NewEdge Advisors LLC now owns 144,788 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock worth $1,578,000 after purchasing an additional 17,025 shares during the last quarter. 38.28% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of analysts have recently commented on AGNC shares. Weiss Ratings raised AGNC Investment from a "hold (c+)" rating to a "buy (b-)" rating in a research note on Monday, August 17th. Compass Point cut shares of AGNC Investment from a "buy" rating to a "neutral" rating and set a $11.50 price objective for the company. in a report on Friday, July 17th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods cut their target price on shares of AGNC Investment from $12.00 to $11.00 and set a "market perform" rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, July 22nd. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reissued a "neutral" rating and set a $11.50 price target (up from $11.00) on shares of AGNC Investment in a research report on Friday, July 17th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company lowered their price objective on shares of AGNC Investment from $12.00 to $11.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, July 23rd. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and seven have issued a Hold rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat, AGNC Investment currently has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $11.11.

AGNC Investment Price Performance

AGNC traded down $0.14 during trading on Wednesday, reaching $9.81. The company had a trading volume of 23,879,617 shares, compared to its average volume of 18,850,586. AGNC Investment has a 12 month low of $9.63 and a 12 month high of $12.19. The business's fifty day moving average price is $10.79 and its 200 day moving average price is $10.62. The company has a market cap of $11.64 billion, a P/E ratio of 5.17 and a beta of 1.32.

AGNC Investment (NASDAQ:AGNC - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Monday, July 20th. The real estate investment trust reported $0.40 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.38 by $0.02. The company had revenue of $305.00 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.06 billion. AGNC Investment had a net margin of 57.94% and a return on equity of 17.96%. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned ($0.17) earnings per share. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that AGNC Investment will post 1.6 EPS for the current fiscal year.

AGNC Investment Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a monthly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, October 9th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, September 30th will be issued a $0.12 dividend. This represents a c) dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 14.7%. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, September 30th. AGNC Investment's payout ratio is 75.79%.

About AGNC Investment

AGNC Investment Corp. is a real estate investment trust that invests primarily in residential mortgage pass-through securities and collateralized mortgage obligations for which the principal and interest payments are guaranteed by a U.S. government-sponsored enterprise or agency, such as Fannie Mae, Freddie Mac or Ginnie Mae. These investments are commonly referred to as agency mortgage-backed securities.

The company seeks to generate income from its investment portfolio, primarily through the difference between the yield on its mortgage assets and its borrowing costs.

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