AGNC Investment Corp. (NASDAQ:AGNC) Short Interest Up 14.5% in September

AGNC Investment Corp. (NASDAQ:AGNC) was the target of a large growth in short interest in the month of September. As of September 30th, there was short interest totalling 47,250,000 shares, a growth of 14.5% from the September 15th total of 41,250,000 shares. Based on an average daily trading volume, of 15,990,000 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is presently 3.0 days.

Insider Activity

In other AGNC Investment news, CFO Bernice Bell sold 5,000 shares of the stock in a transaction 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 in the company, valued at approximately $3,002,692.74. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Insiders own 0.52% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the stock. CIBC Asset Management Inc increased its position in AGNC Investment by 5.4% during the second quarter. CIBC Asset Management Inc now owns 19,712 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $188,000 after purchasing an additional 1,012 shares during the last quarter. Avantax Advisory Services Inc. raised its position in shares of AGNC Investment by 6.7% in the 1st quarter. Avantax Advisory Services Inc. now owns 16,847 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $167,000 after buying an additional 1,059 shares during the period. Paragon Capital Management Ltd boosted its holdings in AGNC Investment by 3.6% in the third quarter. Paragon Capital Management Ltd now owns 30,717 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $321,000 after acquiring an additional 1,071 shares during the last quarter. Highlander Capital Management LLC grew its position in AGNC Investment by 8.1% during the first quarter. Highlander Capital Management LLC now owns 15,940 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $158,000 after acquiring an additional 1,200 shares during the period. Finally, Oak Thistle LLC increased its stake in AGNC Investment by 4.9% during the second quarter. Oak Thistle LLC now owns 26,815 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $256,000 after acquiring an additional 1,251 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 38.28% of the company’s stock.

AGNC Investment Stock Performance

NASDAQ:AGNC opened at $10.37 on Tuesday. 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 firm has a market cap of $7.54 billion, a PE ratio of 11.40 and a beta of 1.47. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $10.26 and a 200-day simple moving average of $9.90. AGNC Investment has a 1-year low of $6.81 and a 1-year high of $10.85.

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

AGNC Investment Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a oct 24 dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, November 12th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, October 31st will be issued a $0.12 dividend. This represents a yield of 14%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, October 31st. AGNC Investment’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 158.24%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research firms recently weighed in on AGNC. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods upped their price target on AGNC Investment from $10.00 to $10.25 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, July 25th. StockNews.com downgraded AGNC Investment from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 10th. Maxim Group cut shares of AGNC Investment from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 24th. Compass Point raised 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. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada upped their price target on shares of AGNC Investment from $10.00 to $11.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, August 16th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, four have assigned a hold rating and seven have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $10.33.

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).