AGNC Investment (NASDAQ:AGNC) Trading Down 1.6%

AGNC Investment Corp. (NASDAQ:AGNC) dropped 1.6% during mid-day trading on Tuesday . The stock traded as low as $8.92 and last traded at $8.98. Approximately 4,197,708 shares changed hands during trading, a decline of 64% from the average daily volume of 11,659,909 shares. The stock had previously closed at $9.13.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

AGNC has been the subject of several research reports. Jonestrading began coverage on shares of AGNC Investment in a research note on Friday, March 22nd. They set a “buy” rating and a $10.75 price objective for the company. Compass Point started coverage on shares of AGNC Investment in a report on Tuesday, February 20th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $10.25 target price on the stock. StockNews.com upgraded shares of AGNC Investment from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday, March 12th. Barclays upped their price objective on shares of AGNC Investment from $8.00 to $9.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Monday, January 22nd. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada decreased their price objective on shares of AGNC Investment from $11.00 to $10.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, January 25th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and four have issued a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, AGNC Investment currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $9.93.

AGNC Investment Price Performance

The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.01, a quick ratio of 0.26 and a current ratio of 0.26. The stock’s 50-day moving average is $9.59 and its 200 day moving average is $9.26. The stock has a market capitalization of $6.26 billion, a PE ratio of 896.90 and a beta of 1.45.

AGNC Investment (NASDAQ:AGNC) last posted its earnings results on Monday, January 29th. The real estate investment trust reported $0.60 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.49 by $0.11. The firm had revenue of $640.00 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $570.42 million. AGNC Investment had a net margin of 7.59% and a return on equity of 28.02%. During the same period last year, the firm posted $0.74 EPS. As a group, equities analysts expect that AGNC Investment Corp. will post 2.16 earnings per share for the current year.

AGNC Investment Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a apr 24 dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, May 9th. Investors of record on Tuesday, April 30th will be paid a dividend of $0.12 per share. This represents a yield of 15.4%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, April 29th. AGNC Investment’s dividend payout ratio is currently 14,414.41%.

Insider Transactions at AGNC Investment

In related news, CFO Bernice Bell sold 10,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, January 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $9.85, for a total value of $98,500.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer now owns 287,282 shares in the company, valued at $2,829,727.70. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Company insiders own 0.43% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On AGNC Investment

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of AGNC. Norges Bank bought a new position in shares of AGNC Investment during the 4th quarter valued at about $69,215,000. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its position in shares of AGNC Investment by 10.5% in the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 63,366,808 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $621,628,000 after purchasing an additional 6,019,268 shares during the period. Vaughan Nelson Investment Management L.P. bought a new position in shares of AGNC Investment in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $38,593,000. Clearbridge Investments LLC grew its stake in shares of AGNC Investment by 85.6% in the third quarter. Clearbridge Investments LLC now owns 7,301,298 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $68,924,000 after acquiring an additional 3,367,112 shares during the last quarter. Finally, GRS Advisors LLC bought a new position in shares of AGNC Investment during the fourth quarter valued at $32,509,000. 38.28% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other 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).