AGNC Investment Corp. (NASDAQ:AGNC) Given Consensus Recommendation of “Moderate Buy” by Brokerages

Shares of AGNC Investment Corp. (NASDAQ:AGNC) have been assigned a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” from the eleven brokerages that are currently covering the stock, MarketBeat.com reports. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a hold recommendation and seven have issued a buy recommendation on the company. The average twelve-month price objective among analysts that have issued a report on the stock in the last year is $10.33.

Several equities research analysts have recently weighed in on AGNC shares. Wells Fargo & Company raised 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 research note on Friday, September 20th. Compass Point increased their target price on shares of AGNC Investment from $10.25 to $11.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 24th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods boosted their price target on shares of AGNC Investment from $10.00 to $10.25 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, July 25th. Maxim Group cut shares of AGNC Investment from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 24th. Finally, JMP Securities restated a “market perform” rating on shares of AGNC Investment in a report on Wednesday, August 28th.

AGNC Investment Stock Up 1.3 %

Shares of NASDAQ AGNC opened at $10.60 on Friday. The company has a 50 day simple moving average of $10.30 and a 200 day simple moving average of $9.92. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.01, a current ratio of 0.27 and a quick ratio of 0.27. AGNC Investment has a 1 year low of $6.81 and a 1 year high of $10.85. The firm has a market cap of $7.71 billion, a PE ratio of 11.65 and a beta of 1.47.

AGNC Investment (NASDAQ:AGNC) last released its quarterly earnings results on Monday, July 22nd. The real estate investment trust reported $0.53 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.54 by ($0.01). The business had revenue of $695.00 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $643.29 million. AGNC Investment had a net margin of 16.15% and a return on equity of 26.21%. AGNC Investment’s revenue was up 52.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted $0.67 EPS. On average, research analysts forecast that AGNC Investment will post 2.11 EPS for the current year.

AGNC Investment Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a oct 24 dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, November 12th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, October 31st will be paid a dividend of $0.12 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, October 31st. This represents a yield of 14%. AGNC Investment’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 158.24%.

Insider Activity

In related news, CFO Bernice Bell sold 5,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, August 8th. The shares were sold at an average price of $10.07, for a total value of $50,350.00. Following the sale, the chief financial officer now owns 298,182 shares in the company, valued at $3,002,692.74. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Corporate insiders own 0.52% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On AGNC Investment

Large investors have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Riverview Trust Co purchased a new stake in shares of AGNC Investment in the third quarter valued at about $25,000. Ashton Thomas Private Wealth LLC purchased a new stake in AGNC Investment in the 2nd quarter valued at about $31,000. Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. lifted its position in shares of AGNC Investment by 52.2% during the 2nd quarter. Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. now owns 3,661 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $35,000 after buying an additional 1,255 shares in the last quarter. Blue Trust Inc. boosted its stake in shares of AGNC Investment by 315.9% in the 3rd quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 3,905 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $37,000 after buying an additional 2,966 shares during the last quarter. Finally, LRI Investments LLC bought a new position in shares of AGNC Investment in the first quarter valued at approximately $38,000. 38.28% of the stock is currently owned by 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).