AGNC Investment Corp. (NASDAQ:AGNC – Get Free Report) was the recipient of a large growth in short interest during the month of December. As of December 31st, there was short interest totalling 40,390,000 shares, a growth of 10.4% from the December 15th total of 36,590,000 shares. Based on an average trading volume of 16,390,000 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is presently 2.5 days.
Wall Street Analyst Weigh In
A number of equities research analysts have recently commented on AGNC shares. Barclays started coverage on AGNC Investment in a research note on Wednesday, November 15th. They set an “equal weight” rating and a $8.00 target price on the stock. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods lifted their target price on AGNC Investment from $8.50 to $10.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, December 13th. UBS Group reiterated a “neutral” rating and set a $9.00 target price on shares of AGNC Investment in a research note on Wednesday, December 6th. Royal Bank of Canada lifted their target price on AGNC Investment from $9.00 to $11.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, January 5th. Finally, StockNews.com upgraded AGNC Investment from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday, December 5th. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and four have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, AGNC Investment currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $10.21.
AGNC Investment Trading Up 1.0 %
Shares of AGNC Investment stock opened at $10.07 on Monday. AGNC Investment has a 52-week low of $6.81 and a 52-week high of $12.25. The stock’s 50-day simple moving average is $9.25 and its 200 day simple moving average is $9.39. The stock has a market capitalization of $6.76 billion, a P/E ratio of 27.22 and a beta of 1.42. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.01, a quick ratio of 0.20 and a current ratio of 0.20.
AGNC Investment (NASDAQ:AGNC – Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, October 31st. The real estate investment trust reported $0.65 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.54 by $0.11. AGNC Investment had a return on equity of 28.72% and a net margin of 17.39%. The firm had revenue of $593.00 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $310.17 million. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $0.84 earnings per share. As a group, research analysts anticipate that AGNC Investment will post 2.52 EPS for the current year.
AGNC Investment Dividend Announcement
The business also recently declared a jan 24 dividend, which will be paid on Friday, February 9th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, January 31st will be given a dividend of $0.12 per share. This represents a dividend yield of 14.3%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, January 30th. AGNC Investment’s dividend payout ratio is presently 389.19%.
Institutional Investors Weigh In On AGNC Investment
Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of AGNC. Raymond James Financial Services Advisors Inc. increased its position in shares of AGNC Investment by 50.5% during the first quarter. Raymond James Financial Services Advisors Inc. now owns 46,983 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $615,000 after buying an additional 15,758 shares during the period. US Bancorp DE grew its holdings in shares of AGNC Investment by 68.9% during the first quarter. US Bancorp DE now owns 29,371 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $385,000 after purchasing an additional 11,982 shares in the last quarter. MetLife Investment Management LLC purchased a new position in shares of AGNC Investment during the first quarter worth about $137,000. Yousif Capital Management LLC grew its holdings in shares of AGNC Investment by 5.2% during the first quarter. Yousif Capital Management LLC now owns 36,096 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $473,000 after purchasing an additional 1,775 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Sei Investments Co. grew its holdings in shares of AGNC Investment by 2.3% during the first quarter. Sei Investments Co. now owns 517,988 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $6,757,000 after purchasing an additional 11,711 shares in the last quarter. 38.86% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.
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).