AGNC Investment (NASDAQ:AGNC) Lifted to “Overweight” at Wells Fargo & Company

AGNC Investment (NASDAQ:AGNC) was upgraded by equities researchers at Wells Fargo & Company from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating in a report issued on Friday, Marketbeat.com reports. The brokerage presently has a $12.00 target price on the real estate investment trust’s stock, up from their previous target price of $10.00. Wells Fargo & Company‘s price target would suggest a potential upside of 14.39% from the company’s previous close.

AGNC has been the topic of several other reports. Royal Bank of Canada raised their price objective on AGNC Investment from $10.00 to $11.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, August 16th. Maxim Group lowered shares of AGNC Investment from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 24th. Compass Point upped their price objective on shares of AGNC Investment from $10.25 to $11.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 24th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods lifted their target price on shares of AGNC Investment from $10.00 to $10.25 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, July 25th. Finally, Janney Montgomery Scott started coverage on AGNC Investment in a report on Thursday, June 6th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $10.50 target price for the company. Five research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have given a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $10.33.

AGNC Investment Stock Down 0.7 %

AGNC Investment stock opened at $10.49 on Friday. The firm has a market capitalization of $7.63 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 11.53 and a beta of 1.47. The firm’s fifty day moving average price is $10.19 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $9.83. AGNC Investment has a 1-year low of $6.81 and a 1-year high of $10.85. The company has a current ratio of 0.27, a quick ratio of 0.27 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.01.

AGNC Investment (NASDAQ:AGNC) last released its quarterly earnings results on Monday, July 22nd. The real estate investment trust reported $0.53 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.54 by ($0.01). The company had revenue of $695.00 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $643.29 million. AGNC Investment had a net margin of 16.15% and a return on equity of 26.21%. AGNC Investment’s revenue for the quarter was up 52.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $0.67 EPS. On average, equities research analysts predict that AGNC Investment will post 2.11 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Buying and Selling at AGNC Investment

In other news, CFO Bernice Bell sold 5,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, August 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $9.97, for a total transaction of $49,850.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer now owns 308,182 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,072,574.54. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Corporate insiders own 0.52% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On AGNC Investment

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Ashton Thomas Private Wealth LLC purchased a new stake in shares of AGNC Investment during the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $31,000. Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. lifted its position in shares of AGNC Investment by 52.2% during 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 acquiring an additional 1,255 shares in the last quarter. LRI Investments LLC bought a new position in shares of AGNC Investment in the first quarter worth $38,000. Quarry LP grew its position in shares of AGNC Investment by 75.6% in the second quarter. Quarry LP now owns 5,285 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $50,000 after purchasing an additional 2,275 shares in the last quarter. Finally, BI Asset Management Fondsmaeglerselskab A S bought a new stake in shares of AGNC Investment during the 1st quarter valued at $53,000. Institutional investors own 38.28% of the company’s stock.

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).