Short Interest in AGNC Investment Corp. (NASDAQ:AGNC) Decreases By 22.1%

AGNC Investment Corp. (NASDAQ:AGNC) saw a large drop in short interest in the month of March. As of March 15th, there was short interest totalling 46,570,000 shares, a drop of 22.1% from the February 28th total of 59,800,000 shares. Approximately 5.3% of the company’s shares are short sold. Based on an average daily trading volume, of 21,330,000 shares, the short-interest ratio is presently 2.2 days.

AGNC Investment Price Performance

NASDAQ AGNC opened at $9.52 on Monday. The firm’s fifty day simple moving average is $10.14 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $9.91. The firm has a market capitalization of $8.72 billion, a P/E ratio of 9.81 and a beta of 1.50. The company has a current ratio of 0.23, a quick ratio of 0.23 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.01. AGNC Investment has a 12-month low of $8.92 and a 12-month high of $10.85.

AGNC Investment (NASDAQ:AGNC) last announced its 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 return on equity of 21.92% and a net margin of 29.26%. Analysts forecast that AGNC Investment will post 1.61 EPS for the current fiscal year.

AGNC Investment Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a mar 25 dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, April 9th. Investors of record on Monday, March 31st will be given a $0.12 dividend. This represents a dividend yield of 14.1%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, March 31st. AGNC Investment’s payout ratio is currently 148.45%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other AGNC Investment news, CFO Bernice Bell sold 13,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, January 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $10.04, for a total value of $130,520.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 372,226 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,737,149.04. This represents a 3.37 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, Director Frances Spark sold 5,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, February 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $10.10, for a total value of $50,500.00. Following the transaction, the director now owns 75,919 shares in the company, valued at approximately $766,781.90. This represents a 6.18 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.42% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Institutional Trading of AGNC Investment

A number of institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its holdings in shares of AGNC Investment by 14.1% in the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 83,316,872 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $767,348,000 after buying an additional 10,316,999 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC increased its position in shares of AGNC Investment by 18.8% in the 4th quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 14,614,721 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $134,645,000 after acquiring an additional 2,311,105 shares during the period. Norges Bank purchased a new position in AGNC Investment in the 4th quarter worth $87,269,000. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC lifted its position in AGNC Investment by 5.2% during the 4th quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC now owns 8,662,954 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $80,392,000 after acquiring an additional 424,990 shares during the period. Finally, Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. grew its stake in AGNC Investment by 8.6% during the 4th quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 7,349,657 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $67,690,000 after purchasing an additional 581,352 shares during the last quarter. 38.28% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

AGNC has been the topic of several recent research reports. JMP Securities reiterated a “market perform” rating on shares of AGNC Investment in a report on Thursday, January 23rd. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods dropped their price objective on shares of AGNC Investment from $10.75 to $10.25 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, January 29th. StockNews.com raised shares of AGNC Investment from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday, February 25th. Argus raised AGNC Investment to a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday, February 4th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. reduced their price target on AGNC Investment from $10.00 to $9.50 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, December 9th. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $10.50.

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).