AGNC Investment (NASDAQ:AGNC) Sets New 52-Week High – Time to Buy?

AGNC Investment Corp. (NASDAQ:AGNC) shares hit a new 52-week high during mid-day trading on Wednesday . The company traded as high as $10.64 and last traded at $10.56, with a volume of 30855947 shares. The stock had previously closed at $10.40.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of brokerages have recently commented on AGNC. Royal Bank Of Canada lifted their target price on shares of AGNC Investment from $10.00 to $11.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 22nd. Weiss Ratings restated a “hold (c)” rating on shares of AGNC Investment in a research note on Monday. Piper Sandler increased their target price on shares of AGNC Investment from $10.00 to $10.50 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 8th. Jones Trading reissued a “buy” rating and set a $10.00 price target on shares of AGNC Investment in a report on Tuesday, October 21st. Finally, UBS Group upped their price objective on AGNC Investment from $9.50 to $9.75 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Wednesday, September 3rd. Six analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and four have assigned a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $10.18.

AGNC Investment Price Performance

The company has a current ratio of 0.33, a quick ratio of 0.33 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.01. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $10.08 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $9.68. The company has a market cap of $11.24 billion, a PE ratio of 15.64 and a beta of 1.34.

AGNC Investment (NASDAQ:AGNC) last issued its earnings results on Monday, October 20th. The real estate investment trust reported $0.35 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.38 by ($0.03). AGNC Investment had a return on equity of 19.44% and a net margin of 24.40%.The business had revenue of $836.00 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $466.39 million. During the same period last year, the company posted $0.43 earnings per share. On average, equities analysts predict that AGNC Investment Corp. will post 1.61 EPS for the current fiscal year.

AGNC Investment Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a monthly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, December 9th. Shareholders of record on Friday, November 28th will be given a dividend of $0.12 per share. This represents a c) annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 13.7%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, November 28th. AGNC Investment’s payout ratio is presently 214.93%.

Insider Buying and Selling at AGNC Investment

In other news, CEO Peter J. Federico sold 45,798 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, October 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $10.27, for a total value of $470,345.46. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer owned 1,557,401 shares in the company, valued at $15,994,508.27. This trade represents a 2.86% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. 0.42% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in AGNC. Red Tortoise LLC lifted its position in shares of AGNC Investment by 377.4% during the 2nd quarter. Red Tortoise LLC now owns 2,764 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $25,000 after acquiring an additional 2,185 shares during the period. N.E.W. Advisory Services LLC purchased a new position in AGNC Investment in the 1st quarter valued at approximately $28,000. Atlantic Union Bankshares Corp acquired a new position in AGNC Investment during the third quarter worth $29,000. Trust Co. of Vermont boosted its position in AGNC Investment by 1,003.0% during the second quarter. Trust Co. of Vermont now owns 3,629 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $33,000 after purchasing an additional 3,300 shares in the last quarter. Finally, National Bank of Canada FI boosted its position in AGNC Investment by 100.9% during the third quarter. National Bank of Canada FI now owns 3,365 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $33,000 after purchasing an additional 1,690 shares in the last quarter. 38.28% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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).