AGNC Investment (NASDAQ:AGNC) Trading Up 3.4% on Strong Earnings

AGNC Investment Corp. (NASDAQ:AGNC) was up 3.4% during trading on Tuesday following a better than expected earnings announcement. The stock traded as high as $8.47 and last traded at $8.44. Approximately 12,108,080 shares traded hands during mid-day trading, a decline of 35% from the average daily volume of 18,761,750 shares. The stock had previously closed at $8.16.

The real estate investment trust reported $0.44 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.41 by $0.03. AGNC Investment had a net margin of 29.26% and a return on equity of 21.92%. The business had revenue of $846.00 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $436.71 million. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $0.58 EPS.

AGNC Investment Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a apr 25 dividend, which will be paid on Friday, May 9th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, April 30th will be issued a dividend of $0.12 per share. This represents a yield of 17.7%. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, April 30th. AGNC Investment’s dividend payout ratio is presently 148.45%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of brokerages recently issued reports on AGNC. Royal Bank of Canada reiterated an “outperform” rating and set a $11.00 price objective on shares of AGNC Investment in a research note on Thursday, January 30th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. dropped their price target on shares of AGNC Investment from $9.50 to $8.50 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, April 16th. Argus upgraded shares of AGNC Investment to a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday, February 4th. JMP Securities restated a “market perform” rating on shares of AGNC Investment in a research note on Thursday, January 23rd. Finally, StockNews.com upgraded AGNC Investment from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday, February 25th. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have given a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $10.13.

Insider Buying and Selling at AGNC Investment

In related news, Director Frances Spark sold 5,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, February 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $10.10, for a total value of $50,500.00. Following the sale, the director now directly owns 75,919 shares in the company, valued at approximately $766,781.90. The trade was a 6.18 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, CFO Bernice Bell sold 13,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, January 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $10.04, for a total value of $130,520.00. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer now owns 372,226 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,737,149.04. This represents a 3.37 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders own 0.42% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On AGNC Investment

A number of hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the business. Barclays PLC raised its position in shares of AGNC Investment by 4.8% during the 3rd quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 1,552,969 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $16,242,000 after buying an additional 71,330 shares in the last quarter. Tidal Investments LLC raised its position in AGNC Investment by 3.3% during the third quarter. Tidal Investments LLC now owns 96,081 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $1,005,000 after purchasing an additional 3,075 shares during the period. Peapack Gladstone Financial Corp bought a new stake in shares of AGNC Investment in the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $142,000. Franklin Resources Inc. lifted its stake in shares of AGNC Investment by 35.8% in the 3rd quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 584,370 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $6,060,000 after purchasing an additional 154,029 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Confluence Investment Management LLC purchased a new position in shares of AGNC Investment in the 4th quarter worth approximately $386,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 38.28% of the company’s stock.

AGNC Investment Trading Up 3.6 %

The stock has a market cap of $7.74 billion, a P/E ratio of 8.71 and a beta of 1.32. The company has a 50-day moving average price of $9.66 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $9.69. The company has a current ratio of 0.23, a quick ratio of 0.23 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.01.

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).