StockNews.com Downgrades AGNC Investment (NASDAQ:AGNC) to Sell

StockNews.com cut shares of AGNC Investment (NASDAQ:AGNC) from a hold rating to a sell rating in a report issued on Saturday morning.

AGNC has been the subject of several other research reports. Wells Fargo & Company raised AGNC Investment from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and upped their price target for the company from $10.00 to $12.00 in a report on Friday, September 20th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their target price on AGNC Investment from $9.50 to $10.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 16th. Compass Point boosted their price target on shares of AGNC Investment from $10.25 to $11.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, July 24th. JMP Securities reaffirmed a “market perform” rating on shares of AGNC Investment in a report on Wednesday, August 28th. Finally, Maxim Group lowered shares of AGNC Investment from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 24th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, four have given a hold rating and seven have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, AGNC Investment has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $10.33.

AGNC Investment Trading Up 1.3 %

Shares of AGNC Investment stock opened at $10.60 on Friday. The company has a market cap of $7.71 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 11.65 and a beta of 1.47. AGNC Investment has a 1 year low of $6.81 and a 1 year high of $10.85. The company’s fifty day simple moving average is $10.30 and its 200-day simple moving average is $9.92. The company has a current ratio of 0.27, a quick ratio of 0.27 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.01.

AGNC Investment (NASDAQ:AGNC) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Monday, July 22nd. The real estate investment trust reported $0.53 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.54 by ($0.01). The company had revenue of $695.00 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $643.29 million. AGNC Investment had a return on equity of 26.21% and a net margin of 16.15%. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 52.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $0.67 earnings per share. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that AGNC Investment will post 2.11 EPS for the current year.

AGNC Investment Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a oct 24 dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, November 12th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, October 31st will be given a $0.12 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, October 31st. This represents a yield of 14%. AGNC Investment’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 158.24%.

Insider Transactions at AGNC Investment

In related news, CFO Bernice Bell sold 5,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, August 8th. The stock was sold at an average price of $10.07, for a total transaction of $50,350.00. Following the sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 298,182 shares in the company, valued at $3,002,692.74. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Company insiders own 0.52% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On AGNC Investment

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of AGNC. Riverview Trust Co acquired a new stake in shares of AGNC Investment in the third quarter valued at $25,000. Ashton Thomas Private Wealth LLC bought a new stake in AGNC Investment during the 2nd quarter worth about $31,000. Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. increased its position in AGNC Investment by 52.2% in the 2nd quarter. Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. now owns 3,661 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $35,000 after acquiring an additional 1,255 shares in the last quarter. Blue Trust Inc. raised its stake in shares of AGNC Investment by 315.9% in the third quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 3,905 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $37,000 after acquiring an additional 2,966 shares during the last quarter. Finally, LRI Investments LLC acquired a new position in shares of AGNC Investment during the first quarter worth approximately $38,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 38.28% of the company’s stock.

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).