AGNC Investment Corp. (NASDAQ:AGNC) Short Interest Down 16.3% in November

AGNC Investment Corp. (NASDAQ:AGNC) saw a large drop in short interest in the month of November. As of November 15th, there was short interest totalling 42,250,000 shares, a drop of 16.3% from the October 31st total of 50,470,000 shares. Based on an average trading volume of 18,200,000 shares, the short-interest ratio is presently 2.3 days.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research analysts recently weighed in on the stock. StockNews.com downgraded shares of AGNC Investment from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a report on Saturday, October 19th. Wells Fargo & Company raised AGNC Investment from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and upped their price objective for the stock from $10.00 to $12.00 in a research note on Friday, September 20th. JMP Securities reissued a “market perform” rating on shares of AGNC Investment in a research note on Wednesday, August 28th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada upped their price target on AGNC Investment from $10.00 to $11.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, August 16th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, four have issued a hold rating and seven have issued a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $10.33.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On AGNC Investment

Several large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Vaughan Nelson Investment Management L.P. raised its stake in shares of AGNC Investment by 200.5% during the third 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 acquiring an additional 9,639,675 shares in the last quarter. US Bancorp DE lifted its holdings in shares of AGNC Investment by 279.0% in the 3rd quarter. US Bancorp DE now owns 239,493 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $2,505,000 after buying an additional 176,301 shares during the period. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. grew its position in shares of AGNC Investment by 2.5% during the 3rd quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 6,768,305 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $70,796,000 after buying an additional 162,152 shares in the last quarter. Equity Investment Corp grew its position in shares of AGNC Investment by 2.1% during the 3rd quarter. Equity Investment Corp now owns 7,274,167 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $76,088,000 after buying an additional 149,775 shares in the last quarter. Finally, International Assets Investment Management LLC raised its holdings in shares of AGNC Investment by 945.2% in the third quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 1,072,039 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $102,489,000 after acquiring an additional 969,475 shares in the last quarter. 38.28% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

AGNC Investment Stock Performance

AGNC Investment stock opened at $9.66 on Friday. AGNC Investment has a 1-year low of $8.79 and a 1-year high of $10.85. The company’s 50-day moving average is $9.96 and its 200 day moving average is $9.97. The firm has a market capitalization of $8.56 billion, a P/E ratio of 6.70 and a beta of 1.47. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.01, a current ratio of 0.23 and a quick ratio of 0.23.

AGNC Investment (NASDAQ:AGNC) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Monday, October 21st. The real estate investment trust reported $0.43 earnings per share (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 business had revenue of $756.00 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $219.50 million. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $0.65 earnings per share. Research analysts forecast that AGNC Investment will post 1.94 EPS for the current year.

AGNC Investment Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a nov 24 dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, December 10th. Investors of record on Friday, November 29th will be paid a $0.12 dividend. This represents a yield of 14.9%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, November 29th. AGNC Investment’s dividend payout ratio is presently 100.00%.

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).