Short Interest in AGNC Investment Corp. (NASDAQ:AGNC) Expands By 22.9%

AGNC Investment Corp. (NASDAQ:AGNC) was the recipient of a large growth in short interest in the month of January. As of January 15th, there was short interest totalling 51,530,000 shares, a growth of 22.9% from the December 31st total of 41,930,000 shares. Based on an average daily volume of 18,600,000 shares, the short-interest ratio is currently 2.8 days.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On AGNC Investment

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of AGNC. Vaughan Nelson Investment Management L.P. raised its position 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 worth $151,113,000 after purchasing an additional 9,639,675 shares during the period. Natixis Advisors LLC raised its holdings in AGNC Investment by 314.8% during the 3rd quarter. Natixis Advisors LLC now owns 3,842,814 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $40,196,000 after buying an additional 2,916,345 shares during the period. ORG Wealth Partners LLC acquired a new stake in AGNC Investment during the 3rd quarter worth about $17,463,000. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC lifted its stake in AGNC Investment by 115.0% during the third quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC now owns 1,912,694 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $20,007,000 after buying an additional 1,023,275 shares in the last quarter. Finally, International Assets Investment Management LLC boosted 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 worth $102,489,000 after buying an additional 969,475 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 38.28% of the company’s stock.

AGNC Investment Trading Up 2.5 %

Shares of AGNC Investment stock opened at $10.08 on Friday. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $9.52 and a 200-day simple moving average of $9.90. The firm has a market cap of $8.93 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 7.00 and a beta of 1.47. AGNC Investment has a fifty-two week low of $8.92 and a fifty-two week high of $10.85. The company has a quick ratio of 0.23, a current ratio of 0.23 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.01.

AGNC Investment (NASDAQ:AGNC) last issued 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 42.19% and a return on equity of 23.41%. On average, equities analysts forecast that AGNC Investment will post 1.95 EPS for the current fiscal year.

AGNC Investment Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a jan 25 dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, February 11th. Shareholders of record on Friday, January 31st will be given a $0.12 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Friday, January 31st. This represents a yield of 15.5%. AGNC Investment’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 148.45%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities research analysts have commented on AGNC shares. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods dropped their price target on shares of AGNC Investment from $10.75 to $10.25 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday. StockNews.com cut AGNC Investment from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research report on Saturday, October 19th. Royal Bank of Canada reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and set a $11.00 target price on shares of AGNC Investment in a research note on Thursday. Wells Fargo & Company decreased their price target on AGNC Investment from $12.00 to $11.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut their price objective on shares of AGNC Investment from $10.00 to $9.50 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, December 9th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have issued a hold rating and seven have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $10.50.

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).