AGNC Investment (NASDAQ:AGNC) Trading 1.1% Higher – Still a Buy?

Shares of AGNC Investment Corp. (NASDAQ:AGNC) traded up 1.1% on Tuesday . The company traded as high as $9.24 and last traded at $9.22. 3,519,701 shares changed hands during trading, a decline of 80% from the average session volume of 17,308,908 shares. The stock had previously closed at $9.12.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research analysts have weighed in on the company. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reduced their target price on AGNC Investment from $10.00 to $9.50 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Monday, December 9th. Wells Fargo & Company raised AGNC Investment from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and boosted their target price for the company from $10.00 to $12.00 in a research note on Friday, September 20th. Finally, StockNews.com lowered shares of AGNC Investment from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a report on Saturday, October 19th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have issued a hold rating and seven have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $10.44.

AGNC Investment Stock Up 1.1 %

The stock has a market capitalization of $8.17 billion, a PE ratio of 6.40 and a beta of 1.47. The stock’s 50-day moving average price is $9.50 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $9.91. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.01, a quick ratio of 0.23 and a current ratio of 0.23.

AGNC Investment (NASDAQ:AGNC) last released its 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 return on equity of 23.41% and a net margin of 42.19%. The company had revenue of $756.00 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $219.50 million. During the same period last year, the firm posted $0.65 earnings per share. As a group, analysts expect that AGNC Investment Corp. will post 1.94 EPS for the current fiscal year.

AGNC Investment Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a jan 25 dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, February 11th. Shareholders of record on Friday, January 31st will be paid a dividend of $0.12 per share. The ex-dividend date is Friday, January 31st. This represents a yield of 15.5%. AGNC Investment’s dividend payout ratio is 100.00%.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On AGNC Investment

A number of hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of AGNC. Park Avenue Securities LLC grew its position in AGNC Investment by 139.4% in the 4th quarter. Park Avenue Securities LLC now owns 28,595 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $263,000 after purchasing an additional 16,651 shares during the period. Fifth Third Wealth Advisors LLC purchased a new position in AGNC Investment during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $103,000. Parisi Gray Wealth Management lifted its stake in shares of AGNC Investment by 21.0% during the 4th quarter. Parisi Gray Wealth Management now owns 55,677 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $513,000 after buying an additional 9,677 shares in the last quarter. Brookstone Capital Management raised its stake in AGNC Investment by 47.2% during the 4th quarter. Brookstone Capital Management now owns 15,583 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $144,000 after purchasing an additional 4,994 shares during the period. Finally, Graypoint LLC bought a new stake in shares of AGNC Investment during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $111,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 38.28% of the company’s stock.

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).