AGNC Investment (NASDAQ:AGNC) Upgraded to “Hold” at StockNews.com

AGNC Investment (NASDAQ:AGNC) was upgraded by stock analysts at StockNews.com from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note issued on Wednesday.

Other equities analysts have also recently issued reports about the company. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price objective on AGNC Investment from $9.50 to $10.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Tuesday, July 16th. Royal Bank of Canada boosted their price objective on shares of AGNC Investment from $10.00 to $11.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, August 16th. 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 report on Wednesday, July 24th. Maxim Group downgraded shares of AGNC Investment from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 24th. Finally, Janney Montgomery Scott started coverage on AGNC Investment in a research note on Thursday, June 6th. They set a “buy” rating and a $10.50 price objective on the stock. Five investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, AGNC Investment currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $10.13.

AGNC Investment Price Performance

AGNC stock traded up $0.10 during midday trading on Wednesday, reaching $10.66. The company had a trading volume of 17,184,464 shares, compared to its average volume of 12,645,960. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $10.17 and a 200-day moving average price of $9.81. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.01, a current ratio of 0.27 and a quick ratio of 0.27. The company has a market capitalization of $7.75 billion, a P/E ratio of 11.71 and a beta of 1.47. AGNC Investment has a 1 year low of $6.81 and a 1 year high of $10.73.

AGNC Investment (NASDAQ:AGNC) last announced its 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). AGNC Investment had a return on equity of 26.21% and a net margin of 16.15%. The company had revenue of $695.00 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $643.29 million. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $0.67 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue was up 52.1% on a year-over-year basis. On average, research analysts anticipate that AGNC Investment will post 2.11 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Buying and Selling at AGNC Investment

In other news, CFO Bernice Bell sold 5,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, August 8th. The stock was sold at an average price of $10.07, for a total value of $50,350.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer now owns 298,182 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,002,692.74. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. 0.52% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On AGNC Investment

Several hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of AGNC. Envestnet Portfolio Solutions Inc. raised its position in shares of AGNC Investment by 6.9% in the 4th quarter. Envestnet Portfolio Solutions Inc. now owns 48,864 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $479,000 after purchasing an additional 3,139 shares during the last quarter. Brown Advisory Inc. bought a new position in shares of AGNC Investment in the fourth quarter worth approximately $99,000. Norges Bank purchased a new stake in shares of AGNC Investment during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $69,215,000. Clearbridge Investments LLC raised its holdings in AGNC Investment by 1.1% in the 4th quarter. Clearbridge Investments LLC now owns 7,380,614 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $72,404,000 after acquiring an additional 79,316 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Nomura Asset Management Co. Ltd. lifted its position in AGNC Investment by 39.9% in the 4th quarter. Nomura Asset Management Co. Ltd. now owns 56,800 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $557,000 after acquiring an additional 16,200 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors 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).