AGNC Investment Corp. (NASDAQ:AGNC) Sees Large Decrease in Short Interest

AGNC Investment Corp. (NASDAQ:AGNC) saw a significant decline in short interest in November. As of November 15th, there was short interest totalling 42,250,000 shares, a decline of 16.3% from the October 31st total of 50,470,000 shares. Based on an average daily volume of 18,200,000 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is currently 2.3 days.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

AGNC has been the subject of a number of research reports. Royal Bank of Canada boosted their price target on shares of AGNC Investment from $10.00 to $11.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, August 16th. StockNews.com cut AGNC Investment from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research note on Saturday, October 19th. Wells Fargo & Company raised AGNC Investment from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and increased their target price for the company from $10.00 to $12.00 in a research note on Friday, September 20th. Finally, JMP Securities reaffirmed a “market perform” rating on shares of AGNC Investment in a research note on Wednesday, August 28th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, four have given a hold rating and seven have issued a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, AGNC Investment currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $10.33.

AGNC Investment Price Performance

AGNC opened at $9.66 on Monday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.01, a current ratio of 0.23 and a quick ratio of 0.23. The stock’s 50 day simple moving average is $9.95 and its 200 day simple moving average is $9.97. The firm has a market cap of $8.56 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 6.71 and a beta of 1.47. AGNC Investment has a 1 year low of $8.79 and a 1 year high of $10.85.

AGNC Investment (NASDAQ:AGNC) last issued its earnings results on Monday, October 21st. The real estate investment trust reported $0.43 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.47 by ($0.04). AGNC Investment had a return on equity of 23.41% and a net margin of 42.19%. The firm had revenue of $756.00 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $219.50 million. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted $0.65 EPS. As a group, analysts predict that AGNC Investment will post 1.94 earnings per share for the current year.

AGNC Investment Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a nov 24 dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, December 10th. Stockholders of record on Friday, November 29th will be issued a dividend of $0.12 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, November 29th. This represents a dividend yield of 14.9%. AGNC Investment’s dividend payout ratio is currently 100.00%.

Institutional Trading of AGNC Investment

Several large investors have recently modified their holdings of AGNC. Vaughan Nelson Investment Management L.P. lifted its holdings in AGNC Investment by 200.5% in the 3rd quarter. Vaughan Nelson Investment Management L.P. now owns 14,446,725 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $151,113,000 after buying an additional 9,639,675 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its stake in AGNC Investment by 2.0% in the third quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 12,303,616 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $128,730,000 after acquiring an additional 242,640 shares during the period. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC boosted its holdings in AGNC Investment by 2.4% in the third quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC now owns 8,237,964 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $86,169,000 after acquiring an additional 189,444 shares in the last quarter. Equity Investment Corp increased its position in AGNC Investment by 2.1% during the 3rd quarter. Equity Investment Corp now owns 7,274,167 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $76,088,000 after purchasing an additional 149,775 shares during the period. Finally, Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. raised its holdings in AGNC Investment by 2.5% in the 3rd quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 6,768,305 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $70,796,000 after purchasing an additional 162,152 shares in the last quarter. 38.28% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

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).