Traders Buy Large Volume of Put Options on AGNC Investment (NASDAQ:AGNC)

AGNC Investment Corp. (NASDAQ:AGNC - Get Free Report) saw some unusual options trading on Friday. Stock traders purchased 68,625 put options on the stock. This is an increase of approximately 73% compared to the typical volume of 39,730 put options.

Insider Activity

In related news, 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 value of $158,025.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president now owns 447,841 shares of the company's stock, valued at $4,044,004.23. The trade was a 3.76% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, EVP Bernice Bell sold 8,000 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Thursday, May 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $8.88, for a total value of $71,040.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 374,019 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $3,321,288.72. This represents a 2.09% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 139,384 shares of company stock valued at $1,228,039 over the last quarter. 0.42% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On AGNC Investment

Institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Fourth Dimension Wealth LLC purchased a new position in AGNC Investment in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $26,000. N.E.W. Advisory Services LLC purchased a new position in AGNC Investment in the 1st quarter worth approximately $28,000. Larson Financial Group LLC boosted its stake in shares of AGNC Investment by 326.3% during the first quarter. Larson Financial Group LLC now owns 3,291 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock valued at $32,000 after purchasing an additional 2,519 shares during the period. National Bank of Canada FI grew its holdings in shares of AGNC Investment by 112.7% in the fourth quarter. National Bank of Canada FI now owns 3,458 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock worth $32,000 after purchasing an additional 1,832 shares during the last quarter. Finally, AlphaQuest LLC purchased a new position in shares of AGNC Investment in the first quarter worth $34,000. Institutional investors own 38.28% of the company's stock.

AGNC Investment Stock Up 0.7%

Shares of AGNC traded up $0.07 during trading hours on Friday, hitting $9.11. The stock had a trading volume of 11,653,557 shares, compared to its average volume of 21,220,161. AGNC Investment has a 1-year low of $7.85 and a 1-year high of $10.85. The firm has a market capitalization of $9.29 billion, a P/E ratio of 9.39 and a beta of 1.29. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $8.82 and a 200-day simple moving average of $9.48. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.01, a current ratio of 0.23 and a quick ratio of 0.23.

AGNC Investment (NASDAQ:AGNC - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Monday, April 21st. The real estate investment trust reported $0.44 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.41 by $0.03. The business had revenue of $846.00 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $436.71 million. AGNC Investment had a return on equity of 21.92% and a net margin of 29.26%. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $0.58 earnings per share. Sell-side analysts predict that AGNC Investment will post 1.61 EPS for the current fiscal year.

AGNC Investment Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a may 25 dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, June 10th. Investors of record on Friday, May 30th will be issued a $0.12 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, May 30th. This represents a dividend yield of 16.2%. AGNC Investment's dividend payout ratio is presently 360.00%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several brokerages recently commented on AGNC. Wells Fargo & Company reduced their target price on AGNC Investment from $11.00 to $10.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, April 22nd. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reduced 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 note on Wednesday, April 16th. Jones Trading lowered their target price on shares of AGNC Investment from $10.25 to $9.50 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, April 22nd. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods dropped their target price on shares of AGNC Investment from $10.25 to $9.50 and set an "outperform" rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday. Finally, Argus reiterated a "hold" rating on shares of AGNC Investment in a report on Tuesday, April 29th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have assigned a hold rating and seven have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $9.86.

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).

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