AGNC Investment (NASDAQ:AGNC) Upgraded at StockNews.com

StockNews.com upgraded shares of AGNC Investment (NASDAQ:AGNC) from a sell rating to a hold rating in a research note released on Tuesday.

Several other research analysts have also recently weighed in on the company. JMP Securities reiterated a “market perform” rating on shares of AGNC Investment in a research report on Thursday, January 23rd. Wells Fargo & Company lowered their price objective on AGNC Investment from $12.00 to $11.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, January 30th. Argus upgraded AGNC Investment to a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday, February 4th. Royal Bank of Canada reiterated an “outperform” rating and set a $11.00 price objective on shares of AGNC Investment in a research report on Thursday, January 30th. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods lowered their price objective on AGNC Investment from $10.75 to $10.25 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, January 29th. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have issued a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $10.50.

AGNC Investment Stock Down 0.9 %

AGNC opened at $10.42 on Tuesday. AGNC Investment has a 1-year low of $8.92 and a 1-year high of $10.85. The stock’s fifty day simple moving average is $9.80 and its 200 day simple moving average is $9.92. The company has a current ratio of 0.23, a quick ratio of 0.23 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.01. The stock has a market cap of $9.23 billion, a PE ratio of 10.74 and a beta of 1.48.

AGNC Investment (NASDAQ:AGNC) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Monday, January 27th. The real estate investment trust reported $0.37 earnings per share 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%. As a group, research analysts expect that AGNC Investment will post 1.61 earnings per share for the current year.

AGNC Investment Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a feb 25 dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, March 11th. Stockholders of record on Friday, February 28th will be issued a dividend of $0.12 per share. This represents a dividend yield of 13.8%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, February 28th. AGNC Investment’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 148.45%.

Insider Transactions at AGNC Investment

In related news, CFO Bernice Bell sold 13,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, January 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $10.04, for a total value of $130,520.00. Following the sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 372,226 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,737,149.04. This trade represents a 3.37 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, Director Frances Spark sold 5,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, February 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $10.10, for a total value of $50,500.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 75,919 shares in the company, valued at $766,781.90. This trade represents a 6.18 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.43% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Institutional Trading of AGNC Investment

Several large investors have recently bought and sold shares of the business. Hsbc Holdings PLC boosted its stake in AGNC Investment by 5.6% in the fourth quarter. Hsbc Holdings PLC now owns 18,259 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $168,000 after buying an additional 970 shares in the last quarter. CIBC Asset Management Inc boosted its stake in AGNC Investment by 5.3% in the fourth quarter. CIBC Asset Management Inc now owns 21,428 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $197,000 after buying an additional 1,075 shares in the last quarter. Armstrong Advisory Group Inc. raised its position in AGNC Investment by 6.6% in the fourth quarter. Armstrong Advisory Group Inc. now owns 18,505 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $170,000 after purchasing an additional 1,150 shares during the last quarter. Garden State Investment Advisory Services LLC raised its position in AGNC Investment by 10.0% in the third quarter. Garden State Investment Advisory Services LLC now owns 12,947 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $135,000 after purchasing an additional 1,176 shares during the last quarter. Finally, CoreCap Advisors LLC raised its position in AGNC Investment by 34.8% in the fourth quarter. CoreCap Advisors LLC now owns 4,765 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $44,000 after purchasing an additional 1,229 shares during the last quarter. 38.28% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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).