Traders Purchase Large Volume of AGNC Investment Put Options (NASDAQ:AGNC)

AGNC Investment Corp. (NASDAQ:AGNC) was the recipient of unusually large options trading activity on Thursday. Traders purchased 52,294 put options on the stock. This is an increase of 38% compared to the typical daily volume of 37,759 put options.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in AGNC. Paragon Capital Management Ltd lifted its stake in AGNC Investment by 3.6% in the third 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 during the last quarter. Armstrong Advisory Group Inc. grew its stake in shares of AGNC Investment by 6.6% during the 4th quarter. Armstrong Advisory Group Inc. now owns 18,505 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $170,000 after acquiring an additional 1,150 shares during the period. Garden State Investment Advisory Services LLC boosted its position in AGNC Investment by 10.0% during the third quarter. Garden State Investment Advisory Services LLC now owns 12,947 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $135,000 after purchasing an additional 1,176 shares during the period. Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. increased its stake in shares of AGNC Investment by 52.2% in the second quarter. Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. now owns 3,661 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $35,000 after purchasing an additional 1,255 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Hollencrest Capital Management raised its position in shares of AGNC Investment by 0.6% in the third quarter. Hollencrest Capital Management now owns 222,450 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $2,327,000 after purchasing an additional 1,290 shares during the period. 38.28% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

AGNC Investment Stock Performance

Shares of AGNC stock opened at $10.08 on Friday. The company has a current ratio of 0.23, a quick ratio of 0.23 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.01. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $9.52 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $9.90. AGNC Investment has a 12 month low of $8.92 and a 12 month high of $10.85. The firm has a market capitalization of $8.93 billion, a PE ratio of 7.00 and a beta of 1.47.

AGNC Investment (NASDAQ:AGNC) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Monday, January 27th. The real estate investment trust reported $0.37 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.42 by ($0.05). AGNC Investment had a net margin of 42.19% and a return on equity of 23.41%. Analysts forecast that AGNC Investment will post 1.95 EPS for the current fiscal year.

AGNC Investment Dividend Announcement

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

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research analysts recently weighed in on the company. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods decreased their target price on AGNC Investment from $10.75 to $10.25 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday. JPMorgan Chase & Co. decreased their price target 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. JMP Securities restated a “market perform” rating on shares of AGNC Investment in a report on Thursday, January 23rd. Wells Fargo & Company decreased their price objective on AGNC Investment from $12.00 to $11.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday. Finally, StockNews.com lowered shares of AGNC Investment from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research report on Saturday, October 19th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have assigned a hold rating and seven have given a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $10.50.

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).