AGNC Investment Corp. (NASDAQ:AGNC) Receives Consensus Recommendation of “Moderate Buy” from Analysts

AGNC Investment Corp. (NASDAQ:AGNC) has been assigned a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” from the ten research firms that are currently covering the firm, Marketbeat reports. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold recommendation and seven have given a buy recommendation to the company. The average 1-year price target among brokerages that have issued ratings on the stock in the last year is $10.36.

Several research analysts have recently issued reports on AGNC shares. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods decreased their price target on AGNC Investment from $10.75 to $10.25 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, January 29th. JMP Securities restated a “market perform” rating on shares of AGNC Investment in a research report on Thursday, January 23rd. StockNews.com raised shares of AGNC Investment from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday, February 25th. Royal Bank of Canada restated an “outperform” rating and issued a $11.00 target price on shares of AGNC Investment in a report on Thursday, January 30th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company decreased their price target on shares of AGNC Investment from $12.00 to $11.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, January 30th.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, Director Frances Spark sold 5,000 shares of AGNC Investment stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, February 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $10.10, for a total value of $50,500.00. Following the transaction, the director now owns 75,919 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $766,781.90. This trade represents a 6.18 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, CFO Bernice Bell sold 13,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, January 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $10.04, for a total transaction of $130,520.00. Following the sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 372,226 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,737,149.04. This represents a 3.37 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Corporate insiders own 0.42% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On AGNC Investment

Institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the business. FMR LLC increased its position in AGNC Investment by 2.0% in the 3rd quarter. FMR LLC now owns 103,556 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $1,083,000 after buying an additional 1,999 shares during the period. HighTower Advisors LLC increased its position in AGNC Investment by 2.6% during the third quarter. HighTower Advisors LLC now owns 94,358 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $987,000 after acquiring an additional 2,385 shares during the period. Point72 Asset Management L.P. acquired a new position in AGNC Investment during the 3rd quarter valued at $32,000. Quantinno Capital Management LP boosted its holdings in AGNC Investment by 30.9% in the 3rd quarter. Quantinno Capital Management LP now owns 15,289 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $160,000 after purchasing an additional 3,607 shares during the period. Finally, Orion Portfolio Solutions LLC acquired a new stake in AGNC Investment in the 3rd quarter worth $130,000. 38.28% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

AGNC Investment Trading Up 0.5 %

AGNC Investment stock opened at $8.34 on Friday. 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 firm’s 50-day moving average is $9.74 and its 200-day moving average is $9.72. AGNC Investment has a 1 year low of $7.85 and a 1 year high of $10.85. The company has a market cap of $7.63 billion, a P/E ratio of 8.60 and a beta of 1.32.

AGNC Investment (NASDAQ:AGNC) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Monday, January 27th. The real estate investment trust reported $0.37 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.42 by ($0.05). AGNC Investment had a net margin of 29.26% and a return on equity of 21.92%. On average, equities analysts expect that AGNC Investment will post 1.61 earnings per share for the current year.

AGNC Investment Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a apr 25 dividend, which will be paid on Friday, May 9th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, April 30th will be issued a dividend of $0.12 per share. This represents a dividend yield of 17.7%. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, April 30th. AGNC Investment’s dividend payout ratio is 148.45%.

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).