AGNC Investment Corp. (NASDAQ:AGNC) Short Interest Up 29.6% in August

AGNC Investment Corp. (NASDAQ:AGNC) was the target of a large growth in short interest during the month of August. As of August 31st, there was short interest totaling 60,040,000 shares, a growth of 29.6% from the August 15th total of 46,340,000 shares. Currently, 5.8% of the shares of the stock are short sold. Based on an average daily trading volume, of 20,730,000 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is currently 2.9 days. Based on an average daily trading volume, of 20,730,000 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is currently 2.9 days. Currently, 5.8% of the shares of the stock are short sold.

AGNC Investment Stock Up 0.8%

NASDAQ AGNC opened at $10.21 on Thursday. The stock has a market cap of $10.64 billion, a PE ratio of 30.03 and a beta of 1.30. AGNC Investment has a fifty-two week low of $7.85 and a fifty-two week high of $10.85. The business has a 50 day moving average price of $9.70 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $9.39. The company has a quick ratio of 0.33, a current ratio of 0.33 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.01.

AGNC Investment (NASDAQ:AGNC) last released its quarterly earnings results on Monday, July 21st. The real estate investment trust reported $0.38 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.42 by ($0.04). The company had revenue of $830.00 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $447.37 million. AGNC Investment had a return on equity of 19.32% and a net margin of 11.50%.During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $0.53 EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that AGNC Investment will post 1.61 EPS for the current fiscal year.

AGNC Investment Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a sep 25 dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, October 9th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, September 30th will be given a $0.12 dividend. This represents a dividend yield of 1,408.0%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, September 30th. AGNC Investment’s dividend payout ratio is presently 423.53%.

Insider Buying and Selling at AGNC Investment

In other news, Director John D. Fisk sold 20,278 shares of AGNC Investment stock in a transaction on Monday, July 28th. The stock was sold at an average price of $9.65, for a total transaction of $195,682.70. Following the completion of the transaction, the director owned 112,685 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,087,410.25. The trade was a 15.25% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, Director Paul E. Mullings sold 11,000 shares of AGNC Investment stock in a transaction dated Friday, July 25th. The stock was sold at an average price of $9.61, for a total value of $105,710.00. Following the sale, the director owned 128,511 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,234,990.71. This represents a 7.88% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders own 0.42% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On AGNC Investment

A number of institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in AGNC. Deutsche Bank AG raised its position in shares of AGNC Investment by 11.8% in the 4th quarter. Deutsche Bank AG now owns 38,125 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $351,000 after purchasing an additional 4,019 shares in the last quarter. Focus Partners Wealth acquired a new position in shares of AGNC Investment in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $367,000. Janus Henderson Group PLC raised its position in shares of AGNC Investment by 6.3% in the 4th quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC now owns 342,851 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $3,156,000 after purchasing an additional 20,300 shares in the last quarter. Nuveen Asset Management LLC raised its position in shares of AGNC Investment by 10.9% in the 4th quarter. Nuveen Asset Management LLC now owns 2,896,972 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $26,681,000 after purchasing an additional 284,154 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada raised its position in shares of AGNC Investment by 11.9% during the 4th quarter. Royal Bank of Canada now owns 2,042,516 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $18,811,000 after acquiring an additional 217,239 shares in the last quarter. 38.28% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research firms recently commented on AGNC. UBS Group lifted their price objective on AGNC Investment from $9.50 to $9.75 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Wednesday, September 3rd. Jones Trading reiterated a “buy” rating and set a $9.50 price objective on shares of AGNC Investment in a research report on Tuesday, July 22nd. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods lifted their price objective on AGNC Investment from $9.50 to $10.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, July 10th. Five research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and three have given a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $9.63.

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).