AGNC Investment (NASDAQ:AGNC) Shares Up 0.8%

AGNC Investment Corp. (NASDAQ:AGNC) shares shot up 0.8% on Thursday . The stock traded as high as $9.82 and last traded at $9.81. 2,915,477 shares changed hands during trading, a decline of 74% from the average session volume of 11,432,307 shares. The stock had previously closed at $9.73.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several brokerages have commented on AGNC. JMP Securities reissued a “market perform” rating on shares of AGNC Investment in a research note on Thursday, April 18th. Jonestrading lowered their target price on AGNC Investment from $10.75 to $10.25 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, April 23rd. Janney Montgomery Scott began coverage on AGNC Investment in a research note on Thursday, June 6th. They set a “buy” rating and a $10.50 target price for the company. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods lowered their target price on AGNC Investment from $10.00 to $9.50 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, April 24th. Finally, StockNews.com raised AGNC Investment from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday, March 12th. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and five have given a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $9.88.

AGNC Investment Price Performance

The company has a 50 day moving average price of $9.55 and a 200-day moving average price of $9.61. The company has a quick ratio of 0.28, a current ratio of 0.28 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.01. The company has a market cap of $7.09 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 10.73 and a beta of 1.47.

AGNC Investment (NASDAQ:AGNC) last released its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, April 23rd. The real estate investment trust reported $0.58 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.56 by $0.02. AGNC Investment had a return on equity of 27.14% and a net margin of 32.12%. The company had revenue of $642.00 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $568.38 million. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $0.70 earnings per share. As a group, equities research analysts predict that AGNC Investment Corp. will post 2.14 EPS for the current fiscal year.

AGNC Investment Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a jun 24 dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, July 10th. Investors of record on Friday, June 28th will be issued a $0.12 dividend. This represents a yield of 14.8%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, June 27th. AGNC Investment’s payout ratio is presently 158.24%.

Insider Activity at AGNC Investment

In related news, Director Frances Spark sold 5,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, April 24th. The stock was sold at an average price of $9.35, for a total value of $46,750.00. Following the sale, the director now directly owns 75,545 shares in the company, valued at $706,345.75. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. In related news, Director Frances Spark sold 5,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, April 24th. The stock was sold at an average price of $9.35, for a total value of $46,750.00. Following the sale, the director now directly owns 75,545 shares in the company, valued at $706,345.75. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, CFO Bernice Bell sold 3,500 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, May 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $9.32, for a total value of $32,620.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer now owns 309,973 shares in the company, valued at $2,888,948.36. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 15,900 shares of company stock worth $149,030 over the last ninety days. Insiders own 0.52% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On AGNC Investment

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of AGNC. MeadowBrook Investment Advisors LLC bought a new position in shares of AGNC Investment during the 4th quarter worth approximately $30,000. Bruce G. Allen Investments LLC bought a new position in shares of AGNC Investment during the 4th quarter worth approximately $37,000. LRI Investments LLC bought a new position in shares of AGNC Investment during the 1st quarter worth approximately $38,000. Verity & Verity LLC bought a new position in shares of AGNC Investment during the 1st quarter worth approximately $45,000. Finally, CENTRAL TRUST Co bought a new position in shares of AGNC Investment during the 4th quarter worth approximately $46,000. 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).