AGNC Investment (NASDAQ:AGNC) Trading 0.6% Higher – Still a Buy?

AGNC Investment Corp. (NASDAQ:AGNC)’s stock price traded up 0.6% on Friday . The company traded as high as $9.65 and last traded at $9.61. 5,499,698 shares were traded during mid-day trading, a decline of 67% from the average session volume of 16,884,195 shares. The stock had previously closed at $9.55.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of analysts have recently issued reports 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. JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut their target price on shares of AGNC Investment from $10.00 to $9.50 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, December 9th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have issued a hold rating and seven have given a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $10.44.

AGNC Investment Stock Performance

The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.01, a quick ratio of 0.23 and a current ratio of 0.23. The stock has a market cap of $8.51 billion, a P/E ratio of 6.67 and a beta of 1.47. The business’s 50-day moving average price is $9.49 and its 200-day moving average price is $9.90.

AGNC Investment (NASDAQ:AGNC) last released its quarterly earnings results on Monday, October 21st. The real estate investment trust reported $0.43 earnings per share (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 company had revenue of $756.00 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $219.50 million. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $0.65 EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that AGNC Investment Corp. will post 1.94 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

AGNC Investment Dividend Announcement

The company 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. This represents a yield of 15.5%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, January 31st. AGNC Investment’s payout ratio is 100.00%.

Institutional Trading of AGNC Investment

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of AGNC. Vaughan Nelson Investment Management L.P. boosted its holdings in AGNC Investment by 200.5% in the 3rd quarter. Vaughan Nelson Investment Management L.P. now owns 14,446,725 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $151,113,000 after buying an additional 9,639,675 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its stake in shares of AGNC Investment by 2.0% in the third quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 12,303,616 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $128,730,000 after acquiring an additional 242,640 shares during the period. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC grew its position in shares of AGNC Investment by 2.4% during the third quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC now owns 8,237,964 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $86,169,000 after purchasing an additional 189,444 shares in the last quarter. Equity Investment Corp lifted its holdings in AGNC Investment by 2.1% in the 3rd quarter. Equity Investment Corp now owns 7,274,167 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $76,088,000 after purchasing an additional 149,775 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. boosted its stake in AGNC Investment by 2.5% in the 3rd quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 6,768,305 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $70,796,000 after purchasing an additional 162,152 shares during the period. 38.28% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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).