California Public Employees Retirement System Increases Position in AGNC Investment Corp. (NASDAQ:AGNC)

California Public Employees Retirement System raised its position in shares of AGNC Investment Corp. (NASDAQ:AGNC) by 3.0% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 1,148,780 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock after purchasing an additional 33,490 shares during the period. California Public Employees Retirement System’s holdings in AGNC Investment were worth $11,270,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Significant Wealth Partners LLC bought a new stake in AGNC Investment in the 4th quarter worth approximately $255,000. Handelsbanken Fonder AB lifted its holdings in shares of AGNC Investment by 27.6% in the 4th quarter. Handelsbanken Fonder AB now owns 105,300 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $1,033,000 after acquiring an additional 22,800 shares during the last quarter. Dupree Financial Group LLC purchased a new stake in shares of AGNC Investment in the 4th quarter valued at $21,370,000. J.W. Cole Advisors Inc. grew its holdings in shares of AGNC Investment by 38.0% during the 4th quarter. J.W. Cole Advisors Inc. now owns 15,141 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $149,000 after purchasing an additional 4,169 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Lafayette Investments Inc. purchased a new position in AGNC Investment in the 4th quarter worth $119,000. Institutional investors own 38.28% of the company’s stock.

AGNC Investment Trading Up 1.1 %

Shares of AGNC opened at $9.25 on Thursday. AGNC Investment Corp. has a 1-year low of $6.81 and a 1-year high of $10.64. The firm has a market capitalization of $6.43 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 10.16 and a beta of 1.45. The firm’s 50-day moving average price is $9.54 and its 200-day moving average price is $9.27. 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 (NASDAQ:AGNC) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, April 23rd. The real estate investment trust reported $0.58 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.56 by $0.02. AGNC Investment had a return on equity of 27.92% and a net margin of 32.12%. The business had revenue of $642.00 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $568.38 million. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $0.70 EPS. Sell-side analysts anticipate that AGNC Investment Corp. will post 2.1 EPS for the current year.

AGNC Investment Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a apr 24 dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, May 9th. Investors of record on Tuesday, April 30th will be paid a $0.12 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Monday, April 29th. This represents a yield of 15.4%. AGNC Investment’s payout ratio is 158.24%.

Insider Buying and Selling at AGNC Investment

In other news, Director Frances Spark sold 5,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, April 24th. The shares were sold at an average price of $9.35, for a total value of $46,750.00. Following the sale, the director now directly owns 75,545 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $706,345.75. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Insiders own 0.43% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several analysts have issued reports on the stock. StockNews.com upgraded shares of AGNC Investment from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday, March 12th. Royal Bank of Canada reduced their price target on AGNC Investment from $11.00 to $10.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, January 25th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods lowered their price objective on AGNC Investment from $10.00 to $9.50 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, April 24th. Jonestrading cut their target price on shares of AGNC Investment from $10.75 to $10.25 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, April 23rd. Finally, JMP Securities reiterated a “market perform” rating on shares of AGNC Investment in a report on Thursday, April 18th. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and four have given a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $9.79.

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).