AGNC Investment (NASDAQ:AGNC) Stock Price Up 1.1% – Should You Buy?

Shares of AGNC Investment Corp. (NASDAQ:AGNC) were up 1.1% during mid-day trading on Tuesday . The stock traded as high as $9.24 and last traded at $9.22. Approximately 3,519,701 shares changed hands during trading, a decline of 80% from the average daily volume of 17,308,908 shares. The stock had previously closed at $9.12.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities analysts have commented on the stock. JPMorgan Chase & Co. decreased their price objective on shares of AGNC Investment from $10.00 to $9.50 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Monday, December 9th. StockNews.com downgraded shares of AGNC Investment from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research report on Saturday, October 19th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company raised shares of AGNC Investment from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and raised their target price for the stock from $10.00 to $12.00 in a report on Friday, September 20th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have assigned a hold rating and seven have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $10.44.

AGNC Investment Stock Up 1.7 %

The firm’s 50 day simple moving average is $9.49 and its 200 day simple moving average is $9.90. The company has a market cap of $8.46 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 6.63 and a beta of 1.47. The company has a quick ratio of 0.23, a current ratio of 0.23 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.01.

AGNC Investment (NASDAQ:AGNC) last posted its earnings results on Monday, October 21st. The real estate investment trust reported $0.43 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.47 by ($0.04). AGNC Investment had a net margin of 42.19% and a return on equity of 23.41%. The business had revenue of $756.00 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $219.50 million. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $0.65 earnings per share. Sell-side analysts anticipate that AGNC Investment Corp. will post 1.94 EPS for the current fiscal year.

AGNC Investment Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a jan 25 dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, February 11th. Investors of record on Friday, January 31st will be issued a $0.12 dividend. This represents a yield of 15.5%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, January 31st. AGNC Investment’s payout ratio is currently 100.00%.

Institutional Trading of AGNC Investment

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in AGNC. Vaughan Nelson Investment Management L.P. boosted its holdings in shares of AGNC Investment by 200.5% in the third quarter. Vaughan Nelson Investment Management L.P. now owns 14,446,725 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $151,113,000 after acquiring an additional 9,639,675 shares in the last quarter. Natixis Advisors LLC increased its position in shares of AGNC Investment by 314.8% during the 3rd quarter. Natixis Advisors LLC now owns 3,842,814 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $40,196,000 after purchasing an additional 2,916,345 shares during the period. ORG Wealth Partners LLC acquired a new position in shares of AGNC Investment during the 3rd quarter valued at $17,463,000. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC lifted its holdings in shares of AGNC Investment by 115.0% in the third quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC now owns 1,912,694 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $20,007,000 after buying an additional 1,023,275 shares during the period. Finally, International Assets Investment Management LLC boosted its stake in AGNC Investment by 945.2% during the third quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 1,072,039 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $102,489,000 after buying an additional 969,475 shares in the last quarter. 38.28% of the stock is currently owned by 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).