Sunbelt Securities Inc. Lowers Stock Holdings in AGNC Investment Corp. (NASDAQ:AGNC)

Sunbelt Securities Inc. reduced its holdings in AGNC Investment Corp. (NASDAQ:AGNC) by 22.6% during the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 63,028 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock after selling 18,393 shares during the period. Sunbelt Securities Inc.’s holdings in AGNC Investment were worth $601,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in AGNC. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its holdings in shares of AGNC Investment by 3.7% during the first quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 65,735,466 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $650,781,000 after acquiring an additional 2,368,658 shares during the last quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC lifted its holdings in AGNC Investment by 0.4% in the 2nd quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC now owns 8,048,520 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $76,783,000 after purchasing an additional 32,813 shares in the last quarter. Equity Investment Corp grew its holdings in shares of AGNC Investment by 3.7% during the second quarter. Equity Investment Corp now owns 7,124,392 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $67,967,000 after buying an additional 253,821 shares in the last quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. raised its position in shares of AGNC Investment by 1.0% in the second quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. now owns 5,316,724 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $50,722,000 after buying an additional 54,153 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Vaughan Nelson Investment Management L.P. boosted its holdings in shares of AGNC Investment by 6.4% during the 2nd quarter. Vaughan Nelson Investment Management L.P. now owns 4,807,050 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $45,860,000 after purchasing an additional 290,720 shares during the last quarter. 38.28% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

AGNC Investment Stock Down 1.8 %

Shares of AGNC Investment stock opened at $10.27 on Wednesday. The company has a market capitalization of $7.47 billion, a P/E ratio of 11.29 and a beta of 1.47. The business’s fifty day moving average price is $10.21 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $9.86. AGNC Investment Corp. has a 1-year low of $6.81 and a 1-year high of $10.85. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.01, a current ratio of 0.27 and a quick ratio of 0.27.

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

AGNC Investment Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a monthly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, October 9th. Investors of record on Monday, September 30th will be issued a $0.12 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Monday, September 30th. This represents a $1.44 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 14.02%. AGNC Investment’s dividend payout ratio is currently 158.24%.

Insider Activity

In related news, CFO Bernice Bell sold 5,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, August 8th. The shares were sold at an average price of $10.07, for a total transaction of $50,350.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 298,182 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,002,692.74. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. 0.52% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities research analysts have commented on AGNC shares. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods lifted their target price on AGNC Investment from $10.00 to $10.25 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, July 25th. Royal Bank of Canada upped their target price on shares of AGNC Investment from $10.00 to $11.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, August 16th. Compass Point increased their price objective on AGNC Investment from $10.25 to $11.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, July 24th. Janney Montgomery Scott initiated coverage on AGNC Investment in a report on Thursday, June 6th. They set a “buy” rating and a $10.50 price target for the company. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company raised shares of AGNC Investment from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and upped their price target for the stock from $10.00 to $12.00 in a research note on Friday, September 20th. Five research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have given a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, AGNC Investment presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $10.33.

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).