AGNC Investment Corp. (NASDAQ:AGNC) Receives $11.03 Consensus Target Price from Brokerages

AGNC Investment Corp. (NASDAQ:AGNC) has earned an average recommendation of “Hold” from the eleven brokerages that are covering the firm, Marketbeat.com reports. Seven investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold recommendation and four have assigned a buy recommendation to the company. The average twelve-month price target among brokers that have updated their coverage on the stock in the last year is $11.0313.

A number of equities analysts recently commented on the company. Wells Fargo & Company raised their target price on AGNC Investment from $10.00 to $12.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, January 28th. Barclays raised their price objective on AGNC Investment from $9.00 to $10.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, January 6th. BTIG Research downgraded AGNC Investment from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating in a research note on Tuesday, January 6th. Wall Street Zen lowered shares of AGNC Investment from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a report on Saturday, December 27th. Finally, JonesTrading downgraded shares of AGNC Investment from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Thursday, January 22nd.

AGNC Investment Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ AGNC opened at $10.90 on Tuesday. AGNC Investment has a 12-month low of $7.85 and a 12-month high of $12.19. The firm has a market capitalization of $12.09 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 7.79 and a beta of 1.37. The company has a current ratio of 0.21, a quick ratio of 0.21 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.01. The firm has a 50 day moving average of $11.36 and a 200 day moving average of $10.57.

AGNC Investment (NASDAQ:AGNC) last released its quarterly earnings results on Monday, January 26th. The real estate investment trust reported $0.35 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.37 by ($0.02). AGNC Investment had a return on equity of 18.32% and a net margin of 47.40%.The business had revenue of $1.12 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $354.75 million. On average, research analysts anticipate that AGNC Investment will post 1.61 earnings per share for the current year.

AGNC Investment Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a monthly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, March 10th. Investors of record on Friday, February 27th will be paid a dividend of $0.12 per share. The ex-dividend date is Friday, February 27th. This represents a c) dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 13.2%. AGNC Investment’s payout ratio is 102.86%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, EVP Kenneth L. Pollack sold 50,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, January 28th. The stock was sold at an average price of $12.11, for a total value of $605,500.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president owned 552,297 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $6,688,316.67. This represents a 8.30% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, Director Gary D. Kain sold 700,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Thursday, January 29th. The stock was sold at an average price of $11.91, for a total value of $8,337,000.00. Following the sale, the director owned 2,189,091 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $26,072,073.81. This represents a 24.23% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. In the last quarter, insiders sold 775,000 shares of company stock worth $9,246,000. Corporate insiders own 0.42% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of AGNC Investment by 1.4% in the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 97,745,127 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $1,047,828,000 after buying an additional 1,304,782 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC increased its holdings in AGNC Investment by 5.8% in the 4th quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 29,097,741 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $312,275,000 after acquiring an additional 1,596,244 shares during the last quarter. State Street Corp increased its holdings in AGNC Investment by 6.4% in the 4th quarter. State Street Corp now owns 18,245,939 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $197,774,000 after acquiring an additional 1,090,374 shares during the last quarter. Norges Bank purchased a new stake in AGNC Investment in the 4th quarter worth $141,830,000. Finally, Equity Investment Corp boosted its holdings in shares of AGNC Investment by 1.8% during the 3rd quarter. Equity Investment Corp now owns 9,554,836 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $93,542,000 after purchasing an additional 164,386 shares during the last quarter. 38.28% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

About AGNC Investment

AGNC Investment Corp. is a self-managed real estate investment trust (REIT) that primarily acquires and manages a portfolio of residential mortgage-backed securities guaranteed by U.S. government-sponsored enterprises such as Ginnie Mae, Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac. The company employs a leveraged total return strategy, borrowing against its securities to enhance income potential while using interest rate hedges to manage risk. AGNC’s investment objective is to generate attractive monthly dividends and long-term capital appreciation for its shareholders.

Founded in 2008 and headquartered in Bethesda, Maryland, AGNC focuses exclusively on U.S.