AGNC Investment Corp. (NASDAQ:AGNC) Receives Average Recommendation of “Moderate Buy” from Analysts

AGNC Investment Corp. (NASDAQ:AGNC) has received a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” from the ten analysts that are currently covering the firm, MarketBeat Ratings reports. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold recommendation and seven have given a buy recommendation to the company. The average 1 year price objective among brokers that have issued a report on the stock in the last year is $10.44.

Several research analysts have issued reports on AGNC shares. StockNews.com cut shares of AGNC Investment from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a report on Saturday, October 19th. Wells Fargo & Company upgraded shares of AGNC Investment from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and increased their price objective for the company from $10.00 to $12.00 in a research note on Friday, September 20th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. reduced their price objective on shares of AGNC Investment from $10.00 to $9.50 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, December 9th.

AGNC Investment Stock Performance

AGNC Investment stock opened at $9.21 on Thursday. 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 company has a market capitalization of $8.16 billion, a PE ratio of 6.40 and a beta of 1.47. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $9.55 and a 200-day moving average price of $9.93. AGNC Investment has a fifty-two week low of $8.92 and a fifty-two week high of $10.85.

AGNC Investment (NASDAQ:AGNC) last issued its earnings results on Monday, October 21st. The real estate investment trust reported $0.43 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.47 by ($0.04). AGNC Investment had a net margin of 42.19% and a return on equity of 23.41%. The firm had revenue of $756.00 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $219.50 million. During the same period last year, the firm earned $0.65 earnings per share. As a group, equities analysts forecast that AGNC Investment will post 1.94 earnings per share for the current year.

AGNC Investment Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a dec 24 dividend, which will be paid on Friday, January 10th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, December 31st will be paid a $0.12 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, December 31st. This represents a yield of 15.1%. AGNC Investment’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 100.00%.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On AGNC Investment

A number of large investors have recently made changes to their positions in the business. Riverview Trust Co acquired a new position in AGNC Investment during the 3rd quarter valued at about $25,000. Point72 Asset Management L.P. purchased a new stake in shares of AGNC Investment during the third quarter worth about $32,000. Ashton Thomas Private Wealth LLC acquired a new position in shares of AGNC Investment during the second quarter valued at about $31,000. Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. raised its position in shares of AGNC Investment by 52.2% in the 2nd quarter. Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. now owns 3,661 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $35,000 after purchasing an additional 1,255 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Blue Trust Inc. boosted its stake in AGNC Investment by 315.9% in the 3rd quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 3,905 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $37,000 after purchasing an additional 2,966 shares in the last quarter. 38.28% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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).