AGNC Investment (NASDAQ:AGNC) Shares Up 0.8% Following Dividend Announcement

AGNC Investment Corp. (NASDAQ:AGNC)’s share price was up 0.8% during trading on Thursday following a dividend announcement from the company. The stock traded as high as $10.29 and last traded at $10.27. Approximately 6,028,772 shares changed hands during trading, a decline of 68% from the average daily volume of 19,000,322 shares. The stock had previously closed at $10.18.

The newly announced dividend which will be paid on Tuesday, March 11th. Shareholders of record on Friday, February 28th will be given a dividend of $0.12 per share. The ex-dividend date is Friday, February 28th. This represents a dividend yield of 13.8%. AGNC Investment’s dividend payout ratio is currently 148.46%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities research analysts have issued reports on AGNC shares. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods dropped their target price on AGNC Investment from $10.75 to $10.25 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, January 29th. Royal Bank of Canada reissued an “outperform” rating and set a $11.00 price objective on shares of AGNC Investment in a report on Thursday, January 30th. JMP Securities reissued a “market perform” rating on shares of AGNC Investment in a report on Thursday, January 23rd. Wells Fargo & Company lowered their price target on shares of AGNC Investment from $12.00 to $11.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, January 30th. Finally, Argus upgraded shares of AGNC Investment to a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday, February 4th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have issued a hold rating and seven have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, AGNC Investment currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $10.50.

AGNC Investment Stock Performance

The company’s 50-day moving average price is $9.63 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $9.89. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.01, a quick ratio of 0.23 and a current ratio of 0.23. The stock has a market cap of $9.24 billion, a PE ratio of 10.75 and a beta of 1.48.

AGNC Investment (NASDAQ:AGNC) last released its quarterly earnings results on Monday, January 27th. The real estate investment trust reported $0.37 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.42 by ($0.05). AGNC Investment had a net margin of 29.26% and a return on equity of 21.92%. On average, equities research analysts forecast that AGNC Investment Corp. will post 1.61 EPS for the current year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, CFO Bernice Bell sold 13,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, January 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $10.04, for a total transaction of $130,520.00. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 372,226 shares in the company, valued at $3,737,149.04. This trade represents a 3.37 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, Director Frances Spark sold 5,000 shares of AGNC Investment stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, February 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $10.10, for a total value of $50,500.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 75,919 shares in the company, valued at $766,781.90. This trade represents a 6.18 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders own 0.52% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in AGNC. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. increased its position in shares of AGNC Investment by 2.5% in the third quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 6,768,305 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $70,796,000 after acquiring an additional 162,152 shares during the period. Vaughan Nelson Investment Management L.P. increased its holdings in AGNC Investment by 200.5% during the 3rd quarter. Vaughan Nelson Investment Management L.P. now owns 14,446,725 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $151,113,000 after purchasing an additional 9,639,675 shares during the period. Barclays PLC increased its holdings in AGNC Investment by 4.8% during the 3rd quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 1,552,969 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $16,242,000 after purchasing an additional 71,330 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC increased its holdings in AGNC Investment by 2.0% during the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 12,303,616 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $128,730,000 after purchasing an additional 242,640 shares during the period. Finally, Howard Financial Services LTD. increased its stake in shares of AGNC Investment by 195.2% during the fourth quarter. Howard Financial Services LTD. now owns 53,834 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $496,000 after buying an additional 35,598 shares during the period. 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).