AGNC Investment (NASDAQ:AGNC) Trading 0.8% Higher Following Dividend Announcement

AGNC Investment Corp. (NASDAQ:AGNC) shares were up 0.8% during trading on Thursday following a dividend announcement from the company. The company traded as high as $10.29 and last traded at $10.27. Approximately 6,028,772 shares were traded during mid-day trading, a decline of 68% from the average daily volume of 19,000,322 shares. The stock had previously closed at $10.18.

The newly announced dividend which will be paid on Tuesday, March 11th. Investors of record on Friday, February 28th will be paid a $0.12 dividend. This represents a yield of 13.8%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, February 28th. AGNC Investment’s payout ratio is 148.46%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities analysts recently commented on AGNC shares. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods dropped their price objective on shares of AGNC Investment from $10.75 to $10.25 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, January 29th. Royal Bank of Canada reissued an “outperform” rating and issued a $11.00 price objective on shares of AGNC Investment in a research note on Thursday, January 30th. StockNews.com downgraded shares of AGNC Investment from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research note on Saturday, October 19th. JMP Securities reissued a “market perform” rating on shares of AGNC Investment in a research note on Thursday, January 23rd. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company dropped 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 note on Thursday, January 30th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have given a hold rating and seven have given a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $10.50.

AGNC Investment Stock Performance

The company has a current ratio of 0.23, a quick ratio of 0.23 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.01. The company’s 50-day simple moving average is $9.63 and its 200-day simple moving average is $9.89. The stock has a market capitalization of $9.24 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 10.75 and a beta of 1.48.

AGNC Investment (NASDAQ:AGNC) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Monday, January 27th. The real estate investment trust reported $0.37 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.42 by ($0.05). AGNC Investment had a return on equity of 21.92% and a net margin of 29.26%. On average, analysts expect that AGNC Investment Corp. will post 1.61 EPS for the current year.

Insider Transactions at AGNC Investment

In related news, Director Frances Spark sold 5,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, February 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $10.10, for a total transaction of $50,500.00. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 75,919 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $766,781.90. This represents a 6.18 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, CFO Bernice Bell sold 13,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, January 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $10.04, for a total transaction of $130,520.00. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 372,226 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,737,149.04. This represents a 3.37 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.52% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of AGNC. Riverview Trust Co bought a new position in AGNC Investment during the third quarter worth $25,000. Financial Life Planners bought a new position in AGNC Investment during the fourth quarter worth $28,000. Point72 Asset Management L.P. bought a new position in AGNC Investment during the third quarter worth $32,000. National Bank of Canada FI lifted its stake 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 valued at $32,000 after buying an additional 1,832 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Blue Trust Inc. lifted 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 valued at $37,000 after buying an additional 2,966 shares in the last quarter. 38.28% of the stock is 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).