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

AGNC Investment Corp. (NASDAQ:AGNC - Get Free Report) was the recipient of unusually large options trading activity on Friday. Stock investors purchased 68,625 put options on the company. This represents an increase of approximately 73% compared to the typical daily volume of 39,730 put options.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

AGNC has been the topic of a number of research analyst reports. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods cut their price objective on shares of AGNC Investment from $10.25 to $9.50 and set an "outperform" rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, June 3rd. Wells Fargo & Company cut their price objective on shares of AGNC Investment from $11.00 to $10.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, April 22nd. JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut their price objective on shares of AGNC Investment from $9.50 to $8.50 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, April 16th. Jones Trading cut their price objective on shares of AGNC Investment from $10.25 to $9.50 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, April 22nd. Finally, Wall Street Zen cut shares of AGNC Investment from a "hold" rating to a "sell" rating in a research report on Tuesday, May 6th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have given a hold rating and six have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $9.75.

Insider Transactions at AGNC Investment

In other news, CEO Peter J. Federico sold 48,333 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, April 25th. The shares were sold at an average price of $8.70, for a total value of $420,497.10. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 1,691,421 shares in the company, valued at approximately $14,715,362.70. The trade was a 2.78% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, EVP Kenneth L. Pollack sold 17,500 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Tuesday, April 29th. The shares were sold at an average price of $9.03, for a total transaction of $158,025.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 447,841 shares in the company, valued at $4,044,004.23. The trade was a 3.76% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders have sold 139,384 shares of company stock worth $1,228,039. Company insiders own 0.42% of the company's stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On AGNC Investment

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Rhumbline Advisers increased its stake in AGNC Investment by 6.5% in the 1st quarter. Rhumbline Advisers now owns 777,264 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock valued at $7,446,000 after buying an additional 47,699 shares during the last quarter. Strs Ohio purchased a new stake in AGNC Investment in the 1st quarter valued at about $2,149,000. Advisors Capital Management LLC increased its stake in AGNC Investment by 2.6% in the 1st quarter. Advisors Capital Management LLC now owns 1,067,011 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock valued at $10,222,000 after buying an additional 26,942 shares during the last quarter. Mendon Capital Advisors Corp bought a new position in shares of AGNC Investment during the 1st quarter valued at approximately $1,916,000. Finally, Integrity Alliance LLC. bought a new position in shares of AGNC Investment during the 1st quarter valued at approximately $996,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 38.28% of the company's stock.

AGNC Investment Stock Up 1.0%

Shares of AGNC traded up $0.09 on Monday, reaching $9.21. The company's stock had a trading volume of 25,356,642 shares, compared to its average volume of 21,348,168. The company has a current ratio of 0.23, a quick ratio of 0.23 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.01. AGNC Investment has a twelve month low of $7.85 and a twelve month high of $10.85. The stock has a market capitalization of $9.40 billion, a PE ratio of 9.49 and a beta of 1.29. The firm has a fifty day moving average of $8.81 and a 200-day moving average of $9.47.

AGNC Investment (NASDAQ:AGNC - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Monday, April 21st. The real estate investment trust reported $0.44 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.41 by $0.03. The firm had revenue of $846.00 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $436.71 million. AGNC Investment had a net margin of 29.26% and a return on equity of 21.92%. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $0.58 EPS. Equities analysts predict that AGNC Investment will post 1.61 EPS for the current year.

AGNC Investment Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a may 25 dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, June 10th. Shareholders of record on Friday, May 30th will be paid a $0.12 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, May 30th. This represents a yield of 16.2%. AGNC Investment's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 360.00%.

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).