AGNC Investment (NASDAQ:AGNC) Shares Down 1.7% Following Analyst Downgrade

AGNC Investment Corp. (NASDAQ:AGNC)’s share price dropped 1.7% during trading on Thursday after JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered their price target on the stock from $12.00 to $11.00. JPMorgan Chase & Co. currently has an overweight rating on the stock. AGNC Investment traded as low as $10.55 and last traded at $10.56. Approximately 14,436,819 shares traded hands during trading, a decline of 32% from the average daily volume of 21,192,689 shares. The stock had previously closed at $10.74.

Several other analysts have also commented on the company. Wells Fargo & Company raised their target price on AGNC Investment from $10.00 to $12.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, January 28th. Barclays raised their price objective on AGNC Investment from $9.00 to $10.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Tuesday, January 6th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods reissued a “market perform” rating and issued a $12.00 price objective (up from $11.00) on shares of AGNC Investment in a report on Thursday, January 29th. Wall Street Zen lowered AGNC Investment from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a report on Saturday, December 27th. Finally, Weiss Ratings reissued a “hold (c)” rating on shares of AGNC Investment in a report on Friday, March 27th. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and seven have issued a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $11.03.

Insider Buying and Selling at AGNC Investment

In other AGNC Investment news, EVP Kenneth L. Pollack sold 50,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, January 28th. The stock was sold at an average price of $12.11, for a total value of $605,500.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president directly owned 552,297 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $6,688,316.67. This trade represents a 8.30% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, Director Gary D. Kain sold 700,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, January 29th. The shares were sold at an average price of $11.91, for a total value of $8,337,000.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director owned 2,189,091 shares in the company, valued at approximately $26,072,073.81. This trade represents a 24.23% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 775,000 shares of company stock valued at $9,246,000. Company insiders own 0.40% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On AGNC Investment

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in AGNC. Norges Bank purchased a new position in shares of AGNC Investment in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $141,830,000. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC purchased a new stake in AGNC Investment during the 4th quarter valued at about $33,210,000. SG Americas Securities LLC grew its stake in AGNC Investment by 19,632.0% during the 4th quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC now owns 3,108,188 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $33,320,000 after acquiring an additional 3,092,436 shares in the last quarter. State Street Corp grew its stake in AGNC Investment by 12.9% during the 2nd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 16,693,449 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $155,383,000 after acquiring an additional 1,906,785 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Geode Capital Management LLC grew its stake in AGNC Investment by 5.8% during the 4th quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 29,097,741 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $312,275,000 after acquiring an additional 1,596,244 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 38.28% of the company’s stock.

AGNC Investment Stock Performance

The company has a market cap of $11.86 billion, a PE ratio of 7.54 and a beta of 1.38. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.01, a quick ratio of 0.21 and a current ratio of 0.21. The firm’s 50 day moving average is $10.67 and its 200-day moving average is $10.64.

AGNC Investment (NASDAQ:AGNC) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Monday, January 26th. The real estate investment trust reported $0.35 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.37 by ($0.02). AGNC Investment had a net margin of 47.40% and a return on equity of 18.32%. The business had revenue of $1.12 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $354.75 million. On average, research analysts anticipate that AGNC Investment Corp. will post 1.61 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

AGNC Investment Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a monthly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, May 11th. Investors of record on Thursday, April 30th will be given a dividend of $0.12 per share. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, April 30th. This represents a c) dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 13.6%. AGNC Investment’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 102.86%.

About AGNC Investment

AGNC Investment Corp. is a self-managed real estate investment trust (REIT) that primarily acquires and manages a portfolio of residential mortgage-backed securities guaranteed by U.S. government-sponsored enterprises such as Ginnie Mae, Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac. The company employs a leveraged total return strategy, borrowing against its securities to enhance income potential while using interest rate hedges to manage risk. AGNC’s investment objective is to generate attractive monthly dividends and long-term capital appreciation for its shareholders.

Founded in 2008 and headquartered in Bethesda, Maryland, AGNC focuses exclusively on U.S.