Traders Purchase Large Volume of AGNC Investment Put Options (NASDAQ:AGNC)

AGNC Investment Corp. (NASDAQ:AGNC) was the recipient of unusually large options trading on Friday. Stock investors acquired 106,802 put options on the company. This represents an increase of 219% compared to the typical volume of 33,448 put options.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities research analysts have commented on AGNC shares. Maxim Group cut AGNC Investment from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 24th. Royal Bank of Canada raised their target price on AGNC Investment from $10.00 to $11.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, August 16th. 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. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods raised their target price on AGNC Investment from $10.00 to $10.25 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, July 25th. Finally, JMP Securities restated a “market perform” rating on shares of AGNC Investment in a research report on Wednesday, August 28th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, four have issued a hold rating and seven have issued a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $10.33.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On AGNC Investment

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. CIBC Asset Management Inc grew its stake in shares of AGNC Investment by 5.4% in the second quarter. CIBC Asset Management Inc now owns 19,712 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $188,000 after buying an additional 1,012 shares in the last quarter. Avantax Advisory Services Inc. grew its stake in shares of AGNC Investment by 6.7% in the first quarter. Avantax Advisory Services Inc. now owns 16,847 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $167,000 after buying an additional 1,059 shares in the last quarter. Paragon Capital Management Ltd grew its stake in shares of 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 buying an additional 1,071 shares in the last quarter. Highlander Capital Management LLC grew its stake in shares of AGNC Investment by 8.1% in 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 buying an additional 1,200 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Oak Thistle LLC grew its stake in shares of AGNC Investment by 4.9% in the second quarter. Oak Thistle LLC now owns 26,815 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $256,000 after buying an additional 1,251 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 38.28% of the company’s stock.

AGNC Investment Stock Performance

Shares of AGNC Investment stock opened at $9.66 on Friday. AGNC Investment has a one year low of $8.22 and a one year high of $10.85. The company has a market cap of $8.56 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 6.71 and a beta of 1.47. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.01, a quick ratio of 0.27 and a current ratio of 0.23. The business’s 50 day moving average price is $10.15 and its 200 day moving average price is $9.95.

AGNC Investment (NASDAQ:AGNC) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Monday, October 21st. The real estate investment trust reported $0.43 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.47 by ($0.04). AGNC Investment had a return on equity of 23.41% and a net margin of 42.19%. The company had revenue of $756.00 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $219.50 million. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $0.65 EPS. On average, research analysts predict that AGNC Investment will post 1.94 EPS for the current year.

AGNC Investment Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a nov 24 dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, December 10th. Shareholders of record on Friday, November 29th will be given a $0.12 dividend. AGNC Investment’s dividend payout ratio is currently 100.00%.

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).