AGNC Investment (NASDAQ:AGNC) Stock Price Up 1.9% – Should You Buy?

Shares of AGNC Investment Corp. (NASDAQ:AGNC) shot up 1.9% during trading on Friday . The stock traded as high as $9.45 and last traded at $9.45. 4,833,258 shares were traded during trading, a decline of 66% from the average session volume of 14,111,151 shares. The stock had previously closed at $9.27.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

AGNC has been the topic of several analyst reports. JMP Securities reiterated a “market perform” rating on shares of AGNC Investment in a report on Wednesday, August 28th. Wells Fargo & Company raised AGNC Investment from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and increased their price objective for the company from $10.00 to $12.00 in a research note on Friday, September 20th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. dropped their price target on shares of 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, StockNews.com downgraded shares of AGNC Investment from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research note on Saturday, October 19th. One research 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, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $10.44.

AGNC Investment Price Performance

The stock has a market cap of $8.43 billion, a P/E ratio of 6.61 and a beta of 1.47. The business’s 50 day moving average price is $9.72 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $9.95. 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 (NASDAQ:AGNC) last announced 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). The firm had revenue of $756.00 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $219.50 million. AGNC Investment had a return on equity of 23.41% and a net margin of 42.19%. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $0.65 EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that AGNC Investment Corp. will post 1.94 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

AGNC Investment Announces Dividend

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

Hedge Funds Weigh In On AGNC Investment

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. CIBC Asset Management Inc lifted its stake in shares of AGNC Investment by 5.4% during the 2nd quarter. CIBC Asset Management Inc now owns 19,712 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $188,000 after buying an additional 1,012 shares in the last quarter. Paragon Capital Management Ltd grew its position in shares of AGNC Investment by 3.6% during the third quarter. Paragon Capital Management Ltd now owns 30,717 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $321,000 after purchasing an additional 1,071 shares in the last quarter. Garden State Investment Advisory Services LLC lifted its position in shares of AGNC Investment by 10.0% in the third quarter. Garden State Investment Advisory Services LLC now owns 12,947 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $135,000 after buying an additional 1,176 shares in the last quarter. Oak Thistle LLC grew its holdings in AGNC Investment by 4.9% during the 2nd quarter. Oak Thistle LLC now owns 26,815 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $256,000 after buying an additional 1,251 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. increased its position in AGNC Investment by 52.2% in the second quarter. Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. now owns 3,661 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $35,000 after purchasing an additional 1,255 shares during the last quarter. 38.28% of the stock is currently 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).