AGNC Investment Corp. (NASDAQ:AGNC) Sees Significant Growth in Short Interest

AGNC Investment Corp. (NASDAQ:AGNC) was the recipient of a large growth in short interest in the month of October. As of October 31st, there was short interest totalling 50,470,000 shares, a growth of 10.7% from the October 15th total of 45,600,000 shares. Based on an average daily volume of 17,450,000 shares, the short-interest ratio is presently 2.9 days.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On AGNC Investment

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. CIBC Asset Management Inc grew its holdings in AGNC Investment by 5.4% during the second quarter. CIBC Asset Management Inc now owns 19,712 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $188,000 after acquiring an additional 1,012 shares during the period. Avantax Advisory Services Inc. grew its stake in shares of AGNC Investment by 6.7% during the 1st quarter. Avantax Advisory Services Inc. now owns 16,847 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $167,000 after purchasing an additional 1,059 shares during the period. Paragon Capital Management Ltd increased its holdings in shares of AGNC Investment by 3.6% during the 3rd quarter. Paragon Capital Management Ltd now owns 30,717 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $321,000 after purchasing an additional 1,071 shares in the last quarter. Garden State Investment Advisory Services LLC lifted its stake in shares of AGNC Investment by 10.0% in the 3rd quarter. Garden State Investment Advisory Services LLC now owns 12,947 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $135,000 after purchasing an additional 1,176 shares during the period. Finally, Highlander Capital Management LLC boosted its holdings in AGNC Investment by 8.1% during the first quarter. Highlander Capital Management LLC now owns 15,940 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $158,000 after buying an additional 1,200 shares in the last quarter. 38.28% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

AGNC Investment Stock Performance

Shares of AGNC opened at $9.58 on Friday. The stock has a 50-day moving average of $10.09 and a two-hundred day moving average of $9.96. 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 $8.48 billion, a P/E ratio of 6.65 and a beta of 1.47. AGNC Investment has a one year low of $8.57 and a one year high of $10.85.

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 for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate 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 during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $219.50 million. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $0.65 EPS. As a group, research analysts predict that AGNC Investment will post 1.94 EPS for the current year.

AGNC Investment Dividend Announcement

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

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

AGNC has been the subject of a number of recent research reports. Compass Point boosted their price objective on shares of AGNC Investment from $10.25 to $11.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 24th. JMP Securities restated a “market perform” rating on shares of AGNC Investment in a research note on Wednesday, August 28th. StockNews.com downgraded shares of AGNC Investment from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a report on Saturday, October 19th. Maxim Group lowered shares of AGNC Investment from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 24th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company raised shares of AGNC Investment from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and lifted their price target for the stock from $10.00 to $12.00 in a report on Friday, September 20th. One equities research 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’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, AGNC Investment has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $10.33.

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).