StockNews.com Downgrades AGNC Investment (NASDAQ:AGNC) to Sell

AGNC Investment (NASDAQ:AGNC) was downgraded by StockNews.com from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research report issued on Sunday.

Several other equities analysts have also issued reports on AGNC. Royal Bank of Canada increased their target price on AGNC Investment from $10.00 to $11.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, August 16th. Compass Point raised their price objective on shares of AGNC Investment from $10.25 to $11.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 24th. JMP Securities reaffirmed a “market perform” rating on shares of AGNC Investment in a research note on Wednesday, August 28th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods increased their target price on shares of AGNC Investment from $10.00 to $10.25 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, July 25th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their price target on shares of AGNC Investment from $9.50 to $10.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 16th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, four have assigned a hold rating and six have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $10.13.

AGNC Investment Price Performance

Shares of AGNC opened at $10.21 on Friday. The firm has a 50-day simple moving average of $10.09 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $9.77. The stock has a market cap of $7.99 billion, a PE ratio of 11.22 and a beta of 1.47. AGNC Investment has a 1-year low of $6.81 and a 1-year high of $10.57. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.01, a current ratio of 0.27 and a quick ratio of 0.27.

AGNC Investment (NASDAQ:AGNC) last posted its earnings results on Monday, July 22nd. The real estate investment trust reported $0.53 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.54 by ($0.01). AGNC Investment had a net margin of 16.15% and a return on equity of 26.21%. The company had revenue of $695.00 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $643.29 million. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $0.67 EPS. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 52.1% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, analysts forecast that AGNC Investment will post 2.11 EPS for the current year.

Insider Transactions at AGNC Investment

In related news, CFO Bernice Bell sold 5,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, August 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $9.97, for a total value of $49,850.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 308,182 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,072,574.54. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Corporate insiders own 0.52% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On AGNC Investment

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Norges Bank acquired a new stake in shares of AGNC Investment during the fourth quarter worth about $69,215,000. Foundations Investment Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in AGNC Investment in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $152,000. Brown Advisory Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of AGNC Investment in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $99,000. Virtu Financial LLC purchased a new position in shares of AGNC Investment during the fourth quarter worth approximately $717,000. Finally, Norden Group LLC increased its holdings in shares of AGNC Investment by 985.9% in the 1st quarter. Norden Group LLC now owns 185,562 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $1,837,000 after acquiring an additional 168,473 shares during the period. 38.28% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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).