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

AGNC Investment Corp. (NASDAQ:AGNC) was the recipient of a large growth in short interest in 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 company are sold short. Based on an average daily volume of 20,730,000 shares, the short-interest ratio is currently 2.9 days. Based on an average daily volume of 20,730,000 shares, the short-interest ratio is currently 2.9 days. Currently, 5.8% of the shares of the company are sold short.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several analysts recently commented on the stock. Jones Trading reissued a “buy” rating and set a $9.50 target price on shares of AGNC Investment in a research note on Tuesday, July 22nd. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods upped their price objective on shares of AGNC Investment from $9.50 to $10.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, July 10th. Finally, UBS Group upped their price objective on shares of AGNC Investment from $9.50 to $9.75 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Wednesday, September 3rd. Five equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and three have issued a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, AGNC Investment presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $9.63.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, Director Paul E. Mullings sold 11,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, July 25th. The shares were sold at an average price of $9.61, for a total value of $105,710.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director directly 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 sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, Director John D. Fisk sold 20,278 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, July 28th. The shares were sold at an average price of $9.65, for a total transaction of $195,682.70. Following the sale, the director directly owned 112,685 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,087,410.25. This represents a 15.25% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Corporate insiders own 0.42% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On AGNC Investment

Hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC increased its position in AGNC Investment by 96.4% in the 4th quarter. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC now owns 110,113 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $1,014,000 after acquiring an additional 54,049 shares in the last quarter. KBC Group NV grew its position in shares of AGNC Investment by 10.2% during the 1st quarter. KBC Group NV now owns 33,398 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $320,000 after buying an additional 3,081 shares during the period. Wealthcare Advisory Partners LLC grew its position in shares of AGNC Investment by 14.1% during the 1st quarter. Wealthcare Advisory Partners LLC now owns 19,991 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $192,000 after buying an additional 2,465 shares during the period. Teacher Retirement System of Texas bought a new position in AGNC Investment during the 1st quarter worth approximately $1,240,000. Finally, Deutsche Bank AG boosted its stake in AGNC Investment by 11.8% during the 4th quarter. Deutsche Bank AG now owns 38,125 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $351,000 after acquiring an additional 4,019 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 38.28% of the company’s stock.

AGNC Investment Price Performance

NASDAQ:AGNC opened at $10.13 on Wednesday. The company has a 50-day moving average of $9.69 and a 200-day moving average of $9.39. The company has a market capitalization of $10.55 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 29.79 and a beta of 1.30. AGNC Investment has a 52 week low of $7.85 and a 52 week high of $10.85. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.01, a quick ratio of 0.33 and a current ratio of 0.33.

AGNC Investment (NASDAQ:AGNC) last released its quarterly earnings data on Monday, July 21st. The real estate investment trust reported $0.38 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.42 by ($0.04). The business had revenue of $830.00 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $447.37 million. AGNC Investment had a return on equity of 19.32% and a net margin of 11.50%.During the same period in the previous year, the business posted $0.53 earnings per share. As a group, equities research analysts anticipate that AGNC Investment will post 1.61 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

AGNC Investment Announces Dividend

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

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).