Investors Purchase High Volume of AGNC Investment Put Options (NASDAQ:AGNC)

AGNC Investment Corp. (NASDAQ:AGNC) was the target of unusually large options trading activity on Wednesday. Stock traders purchased 97,148 put options on the company. This represents an increase of 155% compared to the average daily volume of 38,166 put options.

AGNC Investment Stock Performance

NASDAQ AGNC opened at $8.12 on Friday. The company has a market capitalization of $7.43 billion, a P/E ratio of 8.37 and a beta of 1.32. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.01, a quick ratio of 0.23 and a current ratio of 0.23. AGNC Investment has a 52-week low of $7.85 and a 52-week high of $10.85. The company has a fifty day moving average of $9.95 and a 200-day moving average of $9.81.

AGNC Investment (NASDAQ:AGNC) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Monday, January 27th. The real estate investment trust reported $0.37 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.42 by ($0.05). AGNC Investment had a return on equity of 21.92% and a net margin of 29.26%. As a group, equities research analysts predict that AGNC Investment will post 1.61 EPS for the current fiscal year.

AGNC Investment Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a apr 25 dividend, which will be paid on Friday, May 9th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, April 30th will be paid a dividend of $0.12 per share. This represents a dividend yield of 17.7%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, April 30th. AGNC Investment’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 148.45%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities analysts have issued reports on AGNC shares. StockNews.com upgraded AGNC Investment from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday, February 25th. Wells Fargo & Company lowered their price objective on AGNC Investment from $12.00 to $11.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, January 30th. Royal Bank of Canada reissued an “outperform” rating and set a $11.00 price target on shares of AGNC Investment in a research report on Thursday, January 30th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods cut their price objective on AGNC Investment from $10.75 to $10.25 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, January 29th. Finally, JMP Securities reissued a “market perform” rating on shares of AGNC Investment in a research report on Thursday, January 23rd. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, AGNC Investment presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $10.50.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, Director Frances Spark sold 5,000 shares of AGNC Investment stock in a transaction on Wednesday, February 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $10.10, for a total transaction of $50,500.00. Following the transaction, the director now owns 75,919 shares in the company, valued at approximately $766,781.90. The trade was a 6.18 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, CFO Bernice Bell sold 13,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Thursday, January 30th. The shares were 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 of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,737,149.04. The trade was a 3.37 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.42% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On AGNC Investment

A number of institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the business. Fermata Advisors LLC lifted its stake in shares of AGNC Investment by 4.5% in the 1st quarter. Fermata Advisors LLC now owns 48,221 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $462,000 after acquiring an additional 2,097 shares during the last quarter. Lifestyle Asset Management Inc. purchased a new position in AGNC Investment in the 1st quarter worth approximately $179,000. Secure Asset Management LLC bought a new stake in AGNC Investment in the first quarter valued at approximately $130,000. Rhumbline Advisers boosted its stake in shares of AGNC Investment by 6.5% during the first quarter. Rhumbline Advisers now owns 777,264 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $7,446,000 after purchasing an additional 47,699 shares during the period. Finally, GAMMA Investing LLC increased its stake in shares of AGNC Investment by 1,315.5% in the first quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 27,744 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $2,896,000 after buying an additional 25,784 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 38.28% of the company’s stock.

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).