AGNC Investment (NASDAQ:AGNC) Shares Down 1.5% on Insider Selling

AGNC Investment Corp. (NASDAQ:AGNC)’s share price was down 1.5% during mid-day trading on Thursday following insider selling activity. The stock traded as low as $9.16 and last traded at $9.22. Approximately 4,983,955 shares changed hands during trading, a decline of 58% from the average daily volume of 11,734,414 shares. The stock had previously closed at $9.36.

Specifically, Director Frances Spark sold 5,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, April 24th. The stock was sold at an average price of $9.35, for a total value of $46,750.00. Following the transaction, the director now owns 75,545 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $706,345.75. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. 0.52% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research analysts have weighed in on AGNC shares. JMP Securities reissued a “market perform” rating on shares of AGNC Investment in a report on Thursday, April 18th. Jonestrading decreased their price objective on AGNC Investment from $10.75 to $10.25 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods decreased their price objective on AGNC Investment from $10.00 to $9.50 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday. Compass Point began coverage on AGNC Investment in a research note on Tuesday, February 20th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $10.25 price objective on the stock. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada decreased their price objective 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. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and four have issued a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $9.79.

AGNC Investment Price Performance

The firm has a 50 day moving average price of $9.56 and a 200 day moving average price of $9.26. The stock has a market cap of $6.42 billion, a P/E ratio of 10.13 and a beta of 1.45. The company has a quick ratio of 0.26, a current ratio of 0.26 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.01.

AGNC Investment (NASDAQ:AGNC) last issued its earnings results on Tuesday, April 23rd. The real estate investment trust reported $0.58 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.56 by $0.02. The company had revenue of $642.00 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $568.38 million. AGNC Investment had a return on equity of 27.92% and a net margin of 32.12%. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $0.70 EPS. On average, analysts forecast that AGNC Investment Corp. will post 2.18 EPS 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. Investors of record on Tuesday, April 30th will be paid a dividend of $0.12 per share. This represents a yield of 15.4%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, April 29th. AGNC Investment’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 158.24%.

Institutional Trading of AGNC Investment

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in AGNC. MeadowBrook Investment Advisors LLC bought a new stake in AGNC Investment during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $30,000. Bruce G. Allen Investments LLC bought a new stake in AGNC Investment during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $37,000. Verity & Verity LLC purchased a new position in AGNC Investment during the 1st quarter valued at approximately $45,000. CENTRAL TRUST Co purchased a new position in AGNC Investment during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $46,000. Finally, Allworth Financial LP grew its holdings in AGNC Investment by 76.5% during the 4th quarter. Allworth Financial LP now owns 4,836 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $47,000 after buying an additional 2,096 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 38.28% of the company’s stock.

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).