Principal Financial Group Inc. Trims Stock Holdings in AGNC Investment Corp. (NASDAQ:AGNC)

Principal Financial Group Inc. lessened its stake in shares of AGNC Investment Corp. (NASDAQ:AGNC) by 8.7% in the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 47,788 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock after selling 4,526 shares during the quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc.’s holdings in AGNC Investment were worth $500,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in AGNC. US Bancorp DE boosted its position in shares of AGNC Investment by 279.0% during the 3rd quarter. US Bancorp DE now owns 239,493 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $2,505,000 after purchasing an additional 176,301 shares during the period. International Assets Investment Management LLC boosted its position in shares of AGNC Investment by 945.2% during 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. J.W. Cole Advisors Inc. grew its stake in shares of AGNC Investment by 112.7% in the third quarter. J.W. Cole Advisors Inc. now owns 107,749 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $1,127,000 after buying an additional 57,089 shares in the last quarter. Cannon Global Investment Management LLC purchased a new stake in shares of AGNC Investment in the 3rd quarter valued at $1,569,000. Finally, Van ECK Associates Corp lifted its stake in AGNC Investment by 34.1% during the 3rd quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp now owns 3,427,978 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $34,074,000 after acquiring an additional 870,856 shares in the last quarter. 38.28% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

AGNC has been the topic of several research reports. Royal Bank of Canada increased their price target on shares of AGNC Investment from $10.00 to $11.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, August 16th. Wells Fargo & Company upgraded shares of AGNC Investment from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and increased their target price for the stock from $10.00 to $12.00 in a report on Friday, September 20th. JMP Securities restated a “market perform” rating on shares of AGNC Investment in a research note on Wednesday, August 28th. Finally, StockNews.com cut AGNC Investment from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research note on Saturday, October 19th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, four have assigned a hold rating and seven have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $10.33.

AGNC Investment Stock Performance

Shares of AGNC opened at $9.74 on Monday. AGNC Investment Corp. has a 52-week low of $8.57 and a 52-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. The firm has a market cap of $8.63 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 6.76 and a beta of 1.47. The business’s 50 day moving average is $10.03 and its two-hundred day moving average is $9.97.

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 return on equity of 23.41% and a net margin of 42.19%. The firm had revenue of $756.00 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $219.50 million. During the same quarter last year, the business earned $0.65 earnings per share. Analysts forecast that AGNC Investment Corp. will post 1.94 EPS for the current fiscal year.

AGNC Investment Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a nov 24 dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, December 10th. Stockholders of record on Friday, November 29th will be given a dividend of $0.12 per share. This represents a dividend yield of 14.9%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, November 29th. AGNC Investment’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 100.00%.

AGNC Investment 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).