AGNC Investment Corp. (NASDAQ:AGNC) Short Interest Down 6.4% in June

AGNC Investment Corp. (NASDAQ:AGNC) was the recipient of a significant decrease in short interest during the month of June. As of June 15th, there was short interest totalling 46,340,000 shares, a decrease of 6.4% from the May 31st total of 49,490,000 shares. Based on an average trading volume of 10,910,000 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is currently 4.2 days.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research firms recently issued reports on AGNC. StockNews.com raised shares of AGNC Investment from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday, March 12th. Jonestrading reduced their target price on shares of AGNC Investment from $10.75 to $10.25 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, April 23rd. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods reduced their target price on shares of AGNC Investment from $10.00 to $9.50 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, April 24th. Janney Montgomery Scott began coverage on shares of AGNC Investment in a research note on Thursday, June 6th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $10.50 target price on the stock. Finally, JMP Securities reissued a “market perform” rating on shares of AGNC Investment in a research note on Thursday, April 18th. Four analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and five have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $9.88.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, CFO Bernice Bell sold 3,500 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, May 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $9.32, for a total transaction of $32,620.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer now owns 309,973 shares in the company, valued at $2,888,948.36. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. In related news, Director Paul E. Mullings sold 5,400 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Friday, May 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $9.40, for a total transaction of $50,760.00. Following the sale, the director now owns 111,827 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,051,173.80. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, CFO Bernice Bell sold 3,500 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, May 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $9.32, for a total transaction of $32,620.00. Following the sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 309,973 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,888,948.36. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders sold 15,900 shares of company stock worth $149,030. 0.52% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. MeadowBrook Investment Advisors LLC bought a new position in AGNC Investment during the 4th quarter worth about $30,000. Bruce G. Allen Investments LLC bought a new position in AGNC Investment during the 4th quarter worth about $37,000. LRI Investments LLC bought a new position in AGNC Investment during the 1st quarter worth about $38,000. Verity & Verity LLC bought a new position in AGNC Investment during the 1st quarter worth about $45,000. Finally, CENTRAL TRUST Co bought a new position in AGNC Investment during the 4th quarter worth about $46,000. 38.28% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

AGNC Investment Trading Up 1.9 %

AGNC stock traded up $0.18 during trading on Tuesday, hitting $9.66. The company had a trading volume of 13,197,294 shares, compared to its average volume of 11,630,058. The firm has a market capitalization of $7.02 billion, a P/E ratio of 10.42 and a beta of 1.48. AGNC Investment has a 52-week low of $6.81 and a 52-week high of $10.64. The company has a 50 day simple moving average of $9.62 and a 200-day simple moving average of $9.64. The company has a quick ratio of 0.28, a current ratio of 0.28 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.01.

AGNC Investment (NASDAQ:AGNC) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, April 23rd. The real estate investment trust reported $0.58 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.56 by $0.02. The company had revenue of $642.00 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $568.38 million. AGNC Investment had a net margin of 32.12% and a return on equity of 27.14%. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $0.70 EPS. As a group, research analysts forecast that AGNC Investment will post 2.14 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

AGNC Investment Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a jun 24 dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, July 10th. Shareholders of record on Friday, June 28th will be issued a dividend of $0.12 per share. This represents a yield of 14.8%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, June 28th. AGNC Investment’s payout ratio is 158.24%.

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).