AGNC Investment (NASDAQ:AGNC) Trading Up 1.8% – Time to Buy?

Shares of AGNC Investment Corp. (NASDAQ:AGNC) rose 1.8% during trading on Thursday . The company traded as high as $9.38 and last traded at $9.38. Approximately 7,467,179 shares changed hands during mid-day trading, a decline of 48% from the average daily volume of 14,317,139 shares. The stock had previously closed at $9.21.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities analysts have recently commented on AGNC shares. StockNews.com lowered shares of AGNC Investment from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research report on Saturday, October 19th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. decreased their target price on AGNC Investment from $10.00 to $9.50 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, December 9th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company raised AGNC Investment from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and increased their price target for the stock from $10.00 to $12.00 in a research report on Friday, September 20th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have assigned a hold rating and seven have issued a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, AGNC Investment presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $10.44.

AGNC Investment Trading Up 1.7 %

The company has a current ratio of 0.23, a quick ratio of 0.23 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.01. The stock has a market capitalization of $8.36 billion, a P/E ratio of 6.56 and a beta of 1.47. The company has a 50-day moving average price of $9.52 and a 200 day moving average price of $9.93.

AGNC Investment (NASDAQ:AGNC) last announced its earnings results on Monday, October 21st. The real estate investment trust reported $0.43 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates 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 firm posted $0.65 earnings per share. On average, research analysts forecast that AGNC Investment Corp. will post 1.94 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

AGNC Investment Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a dec 24 dividend, which will be paid on Friday, January 10th. Investors of record on Tuesday, December 31st will be given a dividend of $0.12 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, December 31st. This represents a yield of 15.1%. AGNC Investment’s payout ratio is 100.00%.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On AGNC Investment

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of AGNC. Commonwealth Equity Services LLC boosted its position in shares of AGNC Investment by 27.9% in the 2nd quarter. Commonwealth Equity Services LLC now owns 596,924 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $5,695,000 after purchasing an additional 130,134 shares in the last quarter. Natixis Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in AGNC Investment by 1.7% in the second quarter. Natixis Advisors LLC now owns 926,469 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $8,838,000 after acquiring an additional 15,802 shares in the last quarter. CIBC Asset Management Inc grew its stake in shares of AGNC Investment by 5.4% during the second quarter. CIBC Asset Management Inc now owns 19,712 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $188,000 after acquiring an additional 1,012 shares during the last quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. increased its holdings in shares of AGNC Investment by 1.0% during the second quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. now owns 5,316,724 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $50,722,000 after acquiring an additional 54,153 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Arizona State Retirement System raised its position in shares of AGNC Investment by 5.6% in the 2nd quarter. Arizona State Retirement System now owns 194,761 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $1,858,000 after purchasing an additional 10,326 shares during the last quarter. 38.28% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other 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).