AGNC Investment Corp. (NASDAQ:AGNC) Short Interest Update

AGNC Investment Corp. (NASDAQ:AGNC) was the recipient of a large growth in short interest in March. As of March 31st, there was short interest totalling 51,650,000 shares, a growth of 6.0% from the March 15th total of 48,710,000 shares. Based on an average trading volume of 11,470,000 shares, the short-interest ratio is presently 4.5 days.

AGNC Investment Price Performance

NASDAQ:AGNC opened at $8.96 on Wednesday. The business’s 50-day moving average is $9.58 and its 200 day moving average is $9.25. The company has a current ratio of 0.26, a quick ratio of 0.26 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.01. AGNC Investment has a 12 month low of $6.81 and a 12 month high of $10.64. The company has a market capitalization of $6.23 billion, a P/E ratio of 896.90 and a beta of 1.45.

AGNC Investment (NASDAQ:AGNC) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Monday, January 29th. The real estate investment trust reported $0.60 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.49 by $0.11. The company had revenue of $640.00 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $570.42 million. AGNC Investment had a return on equity of 28.02% and a net margin of 7.59%. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $0.74 earnings per share. On average, equities research analysts forecast that AGNC Investment will post 2.16 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

AGNC Investment Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a apr 24 dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, May 9th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, April 30th will be paid a dividend of $0.12 per share. The ex-dividend date is Monday, April 29th. This represents a dividend yield of 15.4%. AGNC Investment’s dividend payout ratio is 14,414.41%.

Insider Transactions at AGNC Investment

In other news, CFO Bernice Bell sold 10,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, January 26th. The stock was sold at an average price of $9.85, for a total value of $98,500.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer now owns 287,282 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,829,727.70. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Corporate insiders own 0.43% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of AGNC. Raymond James Financial Services Advisors Inc. grew its stake in AGNC Investment by 50.5% in the first quarter. Raymond James Financial Services Advisors Inc. now owns 46,983 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $615,000 after purchasing an additional 15,758 shares in the last quarter. US Bancorp DE grew its stake in AGNC Investment by 68.9% in the first quarter. US Bancorp DE now owns 29,371 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $385,000 after purchasing an additional 11,982 shares in the last quarter. MetLife Investment Management LLC bought a new position in AGNC Investment in the first quarter worth approximately $137,000. Yousif Capital Management LLC grew its stake in AGNC Investment by 5.2% in the first quarter. Yousif Capital Management LLC now owns 36,096 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $473,000 after purchasing an additional 1,775 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Sei Investments Co. lifted its holdings in AGNC Investment by 2.3% during the first quarter. Sei Investments Co. now owns 517,988 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $6,757,000 after buying an additional 11,711 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 38.28% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

AGNC has been the topic of several recent research reports. Jonestrading initiated coverage on AGNC Investment in a research note on Friday, March 22nd. They issued a “buy” rating and a $10.75 price target on the stock. Compass Point initiated coverage on AGNC Investment in a research note on Tuesday, February 20th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $10.25 price target on the stock. Barclays upped their price target on AGNC Investment from $8.00 to $9.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Monday, January 22nd. Royal Bank of Canada cut their target price on AGNC Investment from $11.00 to $10.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, January 25th. Finally, StockNews.com upgraded AGNC Investment from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday, March 12th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and four have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $9.93.

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).