AGNC Investment (NASDAQ:AGNC) Shares Down 0.8% – Should You Sell?

Shares of AGNC Investment Corp. (NASDAQ:AGNC) dropped 0.8% during trading on Wednesday . The company traded as low as $9.80 and last traded at $9.86. Approximately 9,094,912 shares changed hands during mid-day trading, a decline of 44% from the average daily volume of 16,277,028 shares. The stock had previously closed at $9.93.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities research analysts have recently issued reports on the company. Wells Fargo & Company lowered their target price on AGNC Investment from $12.00 to $11.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, January 30th. Royal Bank of Canada reissued an “outperform” rating and issued a $11.00 price objective on shares of AGNC Investment in a research report on Thursday, January 30th. JMP Securities reaffirmed a “market perform” rating on shares of AGNC Investment in a research report on Thursday, January 23rd. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reduced their price target on AGNC Investment from $10.00 to $9.50 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Monday, December 9th. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods dropped their price objective on AGNC Investment from $10.75 to $10.25 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, January 29th. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $10.50.

AGNC Investment Stock Performance

The company has a 50-day moving average price of $10.13 and a 200-day moving average price of $9.92. 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 has a market capitalization of $8.93 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 10.08 and a beta of 1.50.

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 (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.42 by ($0.05). AGNC Investment had a net margin of 29.26% and a return on equity of 21.92%. As a group, equities research analysts forecast that AGNC Investment Corp. will post 1.61 earnings per share for the current year.

AGNC Investment Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a mar 25 dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, April 9th. Stockholders of record on Monday, March 31st will be issued a $0.12 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, March 31st. This represents a dividend yield of 14.1%. AGNC Investment’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 148.45%.

Insider Activity

In other news, Director Frances Spark sold 5,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, February 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $10.10, for a total transaction of $50,500.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now owns 75,919 shares in the company, valued at approximately $766,781.90. This represents a 6.18 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, CFO Bernice Bell sold 13,000 shares of AGNC Investment stock in a transaction on Thursday, January 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $10.04, for a total value of $130,520.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer now owns 372,226 shares in the company, valued at $3,737,149.04. The trade was a 3.37 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders own 0.42% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On AGNC Investment

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Fourth Dimension Wealth LLC purchased a new stake in AGNC Investment in the 4th quarter worth about $26,000. Financial Life Planners acquired a new position in shares of AGNC Investment in the 4th quarter valued at about $28,000. Point72 Asset Management L.P. purchased a new stake in shares of AGNC Investment in the third quarter worth approximately $32,000. National Bank of Canada FI grew its position in AGNC Investment by 112.7% during 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 purchasing an additional 1,832 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Spire Wealth Management increased its stake in AGNC Investment by 94.5% in the 4th quarter. Spire Wealth Management now owns 4,059 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $37,000 after buying an additional 1,972 shares during the period. 38.28% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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).