AGNC Investment (NASDAQ:AGNC) Shares Up 1.2% – Still a Buy?

AGNC Investment Corp. (NASDAQ:AGNC) traded up 1.2% during mid-day trading on Thursday . The company traded as high as $9.79 and last traded at $9.76. 12,091,447 shares changed hands during mid-day trading, a decline of 14% from the average session volume of 14,121,854 shares. The stock had previously closed at $9.64.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research analysts have commented on the stock. StockNews.com downgraded shares of AGNC Investment from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a report on Saturday, October 19th. Wells Fargo & Company raised AGNC Investment from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and increased their price target for the company from $10.00 to $12.00 in a research note on Friday, September 20th. JMP Securities reaffirmed a “market perform” rating on shares of AGNC Investment in a research note on Wednesday, August 28th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada increased their target price on AGNC Investment from $10.00 to $11.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, August 16th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, four have issued a hold rating and seven have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $10.33.

AGNC Investment Price Performance

The company has a quick ratio of 0.23, a current ratio of 0.23 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.01. The company has a market capitalization of $8.56 billion, a PE ratio of 6.71 and a beta of 1.47. The firm’s 50 day simple moving average is $9.96 and its 200 day simple moving average is $9.97.

AGNC Investment (NASDAQ:AGNC) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Monday, October 21st. The real estate investment trust reported $0.43 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.47 by ($0.04). AGNC Investment had a net margin of 42.19% and a return on equity of 23.41%. The firm had revenue of $756.00 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $219.50 million. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $0.65 earnings per share. As a group, research analysts anticipate that AGNC Investment Corp. will post 1.94 EPS for the current fiscal year.

AGNC Investment Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a nov 24 dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, December 10th. Stockholders of record on Friday, November 29th will be issued a $0.12 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Friday, November 29th. This represents a dividend yield of 14.9%. AGNC Investment’s payout ratio is 100.00%.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On AGNC Investment

A number of large investors have recently bought and sold shares of AGNC. CIBC Asset Management Inc lifted its position in shares of 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. Paragon Capital Management Ltd lifted its holdings in AGNC Investment by 3.6% during the 3rd 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. Garden State Investment Advisory Services LLC boosted its position in AGNC Investment by 10.0% in the 3rd quarter. Garden State Investment Advisory Services LLC now owns 12,947 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $135,000 after buying an additional 1,176 shares during the period. Oak Thistle LLC boosted its position in AGNC Investment by 4.9% in the 2nd 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 during the period. Finally, Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. grew its stake in AGNC Investment by 52.2% in the 2nd quarter. Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. now owns 3,661 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $35,000 after acquiring an additional 1,255 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other 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).