AGNC Investment (NASDAQ:AGNC) Stock Price Up 1.4% After Dividend Announcement

Shares of AGNC Investment Corp. (NASDAQ:AGNC) were up 1.4% during trading on Thursday following a dividend announcement from the company. The company traded as high as $9.57 and last traded at $9.51. Approximately 4,351,019 shares changed hands during trading, a decline of 69% from the average daily volume of 13,943,930 shares. The stock had previously closed at $9.38.

The newly announced dividend which will be paid on Tuesday, December 10th. Shareholders of record on Friday, November 29th will be paid a $0.12 dividend. AGNC Investment’s dividend payout ratio is currently 100.00%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities research analysts have weighed in on the company. Maxim Group cut AGNC Investment from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 24th. Wells Fargo & Company raised AGNC Investment from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and upped their price objective for the company from $10.00 to $12.00 in a research note on Friday, September 20th. JMP Securities reiterated a “market perform” rating on shares of AGNC Investment in a research note on Wednesday, August 28th. StockNews.com cut AGNC Investment from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research note on Saturday, October 19th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada lifted their price objective on shares of AGNC Investment from $10.00 to $11.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, August 16th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, four have given a hold rating and seven have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $10.33.

AGNC Investment Price Performance

The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.01, a current ratio of 0.23 and a quick ratio of 0.27. The stock has a market capitalization of $8.43 billion, a PE ratio of 6.61 and a beta of 1.47. The company has a 50-day moving average of $10.17 and a two-hundred day moving average of $9.94.

AGNC Investment (NASDAQ:AGNC) last announced its quarterly earnings data 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 net margin of 42.19% and a return on equity of 23.41%. The company had revenue of $756.00 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $219.50 million. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $0.65 earnings per share. Sell-side analysts predict that AGNC Investment Corp. will post 1.94 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On AGNC Investment

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the business. Riverview Trust Co acquired a new position in AGNC Investment in the 3rd quarter worth $25,000. Ashton Thomas Private Wealth LLC acquired a new stake in AGNC Investment in the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $31,000. Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. raised its stake in AGNC Investment by 52.2% during the 2nd quarter. Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. now owns 3,661 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $35,000 after acquiring an additional 1,255 shares in the last quarter. Blue Trust Inc. boosted its position in AGNC Investment by 315.9% during the 3rd quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 3,905 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $37,000 after acquiring an additional 2,966 shares during the period. Finally, LRI Investments LLC bought a new position in shares of AGNC Investment in the first quarter worth $38,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 38.28% of the company’s stock.

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).