AGNC Investment (NASDAQ:AGNC) Shares Up 0.5% – Should You Buy?

AGNC Investment Corp. (NASDAQ:AGNC)’s stock price shot up 0.5% during mid-day trading on Wednesday . The stock traded as high as $9.96 and last traded at $9.92. 5,014,406 shares changed hands during mid-day trading, a decline of 72% from the average session volume of 18,054,002 shares. The stock had previously closed at $9.87.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

AGNC has been the subject of several recent analyst reports. Royal Bank of Canada reissued an “outperform” rating and set a $11.00 target price on shares of AGNC Investment in a research note on Thursday. StockNews.com cut AGNC Investment from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research note on Saturday, October 19th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. decreased their target price on AGNC Investment from $10.00 to $9.50 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, December 9th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods cut their price target on shares of AGNC Investment from $10.75 to $10.25 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company lowered 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. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have assigned a hold rating and seven have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $10.50.

AGNC Investment Stock Up 0.1 %

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 stock has a market cap of $8.83 billion, a PE ratio of 10.28 and a beta of 1.47. The firm has a fifty day moving average of $9.52 and a 200 day moving average of $9.90.

AGNC Investment (NASDAQ:AGNC) last released its quarterly earnings data on Monday, January 27th. The real estate investment trust reported $0.37 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.42 by ($0.05). AGNC Investment had a net margin of 29.26% and a return on equity of 21.92%. On average, equities research analysts anticipate that AGNC Investment Corp. will post 1.63 EPS for the current fiscal year.

AGNC Investment Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a jan 25 dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, February 11th. Investors of record on Friday, January 31st will be paid a dividend of $0.12 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, January 31st. This represents a yield of 15.5%. AGNC Investment’s dividend payout ratio is currently 148.46%.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On AGNC Investment

Several 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 3rd quarter valued at about $25,000. Financial Life Planners acquired a new stake in shares of AGNC Investment in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $28,000. Point72 Asset Management L.P. purchased a new position in shares of AGNC Investment during the third quarter worth approximately $32,000. Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. increased its holdings in shares of AGNC Investment by 52.2% in the 2nd quarter. Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. now owns 3,661 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $35,000 after acquiring an additional 1,255 shares during the period. Finally, Blue Trust Inc. raised its position in 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 valued at $37,000 after purchasing an additional 2,966 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 38.28% of the company’s stock.

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).