Short Interest in AGNC Investment Corp. (NASDAQ:AGNC) Drops By 8.3%

AGNC Investment Corp. (NASDAQ:AGNC) saw a significant drop in short interest in September. As of September 15th, there was short interest totalling 41,250,000 shares, a drop of 8.3% from the August 31st total of 45,000,000 shares. Based on an average daily trading volume, of 15,390,000 shares, the short-interest ratio is presently 2.7 days.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, CFO Bernice Bell sold 5,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, August 8th. The shares were 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 is available at the SEC website. 0.52% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Ashton Thomas Private Wealth LLC acquired a new position in AGNC Investment in the 2nd quarter worth $31,000. Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. grew its stake in AGNC Investment by 52.2% during 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 purchasing an additional 1,255 shares in the last quarter. LRI Investments LLC purchased a new stake in AGNC Investment during the 1st quarter worth approximately $38,000. Quarry LP raised its position in shares of AGNC Investment by 75.6% in the 2nd quarter. Quarry LP now owns 5,285 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $50,000 after purchasing an additional 2,275 shares in the last quarter. Finally, BI Asset Management Fondsmaeglerselskab A S acquired a new position in shares of AGNC Investment in the 1st quarter valued at approximately $53,000. 38.28% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

AGNC Investment Trading Up 1.2 %

NASDAQ AGNC opened at $10.53 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.01, a quick ratio of 0.27 and a current ratio of 0.27. AGNC Investment has a one year low of $6.81 and a one year high of $10.85. The company’s 50 day moving average price is $10.20 and its 200 day moving average price is $9.85. The firm has a market capitalization of $7.65 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 11.57 and a beta of 1.47.

AGNC Investment (NASDAQ:AGNC) last issued its earnings results on Monday, July 22nd. The real estate investment trust reported $0.53 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.54 by ($0.01). AGNC Investment had a net margin of 16.15% and a return on equity of 26.21%. The business had revenue of $695.00 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $643.29 million. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $0.67 EPS. The business’s revenue was up 52.1% on a year-over-year basis. On average, sell-side analysts predict that AGNC Investment will post 2.11 EPS for the current year.

AGNC Investment Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a monthly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, October 9th. Investors of record on Monday, September 30th will be given a dividend of $0.12 per share. This represents a $1.44 annualized dividend and a yield of 13.68%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, September 30th. AGNC Investment’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 158.24%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research analysts have weighed in on AGNC shares. StockNews.com raised AGNC Investment from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Wednesday, September 18th. JMP Securities reissued a “market perform” rating on shares of AGNC Investment in a research note on Wednesday, August 28th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods upped their price objective on shares of AGNC Investment from $10.00 to $10.25 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, July 25th. 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 research report on Friday, September 20th. Finally, Janney Montgomery Scott started coverage on shares of AGNC Investment in a research report on Thursday, June 6th. They set a “buy” rating and a $10.50 price target for the company. Five research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $10.33.

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).