AGNC Investment (NASDAQ:AGNC) Trading 1% Higher – Here’s Why

AGNC Investment Corp. (NASDAQ:AGNC) shares traded up 1% during mid-day trading on Wednesday . The stock traded as high as $9.45 and last traded at $9.33. 4,772,248 shares traded hands during mid-day trading, a decline of 72% from the average session volume of 17,236,002 shares. The stock had previously closed at $9.24.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities analysts recently issued reports on the stock. StockNews.com downgraded shares of AGNC Investment from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research report on Saturday, October 19th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. dropped their target price on shares of AGNC Investment from $10.00 to $9.50 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, December 9th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company upgraded shares of AGNC Investment from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and increased their price target for the company from $10.00 to $12.00 in a report on Friday, September 20th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have issued a hold rating and seven have issued a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $10.44.

AGNC Investment Price Performance

The company has a quick ratio of 0.23, a current ratio of 0.23 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.01. The firm’s fifty day moving average price is $9.49 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $9.90. The stock has a market capitalization of $8.51 billion, a PE ratio of 6.67 and a beta of 1.47.

AGNC Investment (NASDAQ:AGNC) last released its quarterly earnings results on Monday, October 21st. The real estate investment trust reported $0.43 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.47 by ($0.04). AGNC Investment had a net margin of 42.19% and a return on equity of 23.41%. The firm had revenue of $756.00 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $219.50 million. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $0.65 earnings per share. On average, equities analysts predict that AGNC Investment Corp. will post 1.94 earnings per share for the current year.

AGNC Investment Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a jan 25 dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, February 11th. Stockholders of record on Friday, January 31st will be given a dividend of $0.12 per share. This represents a dividend yield of 15.5%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, January 31st. AGNC Investment’s payout ratio is currently 100.00%.

Institutional Trading of AGNC Investment

Large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Vaughan Nelson Investment Management L.P. raised its position in AGNC Investment by 200.5% in the third quarter. Vaughan Nelson Investment Management L.P. now owns 14,446,725 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $151,113,000 after acquiring an additional 9,639,675 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC raised its holdings in AGNC Investment by 2.0% in the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 12,303,616 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $128,730,000 after purchasing an additional 242,640 shares during the period. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC lifted its position in AGNC Investment by 2.4% during the third quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC now owns 8,237,964 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $86,169,000 after purchasing an additional 189,444 shares in the last quarter. Equity Investment Corp grew its holdings in AGNC Investment by 2.1% during the third quarter. Equity Investment Corp now owns 7,274,167 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $76,088,000 after purchasing an additional 149,775 shares during the period. Finally, Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. grew its holdings in AGNC Investment by 2.5% during the third quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 6,768,305 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $70,796,000 after purchasing an additional 162,152 shares during the period. 38.28% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

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).