AGNC Investment Corp. (NASDAQ:AGNC - Get Free Report) was the recipient of a significant decline in short interest during the month of September. As of September 15th, there was short interest totalling 41,250,000 shares, a decline of 8.3% from the August 31st total of 45,000,000 shares. Based on an average trading volume of 15,390,000 shares, the short-interest ratio is presently 2.7 days.
AGNC opened at $10.53 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.01, a current ratio of 0.27 and a quick ratio of 0.27. AGNC Investment has a 12 month low of $6.81 and a 12 month high of $10.85. The stock has a market capitalization of $7.65 billion, a P/E ratio of 11.57 and a beta of 1.47. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $10.20 and a 200-day simple moving average of $9.85.
AGNC Investment (NASDAQ:AGNC - Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results on Monday, July 22nd. The real estate investment trust reported $0.53 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.54 by ($0.01). The company had revenue of $695.00 million for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $643.29 million. AGNC Investment had a return on equity of 26.21% and a net margin of 16.15%. AGNC Investment's revenue for the quarter was up 52.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $0.67 earnings per share. On average, equities analysts anticipate that AGNC Investment will post 2.11 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.
The business also recently announced a monthly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, October 9th. Shareholders of record on Monday, September 30th will be issued a $0.12 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Monday, September 30th. This represents a $1.44 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 13.68%. AGNC Investment's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 158.24%.
In other AGNC Investment news, CFO Bernice Bell sold 5,000 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Thursday, August 8th. The stock was sold at an average price of $10.07, for a total transaction of $50,350.00. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer now owns 298,182 shares of the company's stock, valued at $3,002,692.74. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. 0.52% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.
A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its holdings in AGNC Investment by 10.5% during the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 63,366,808 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock worth $621,628,000 after purchasing an additional 6,019,268 shares during the last quarter. GRS Advisors LLC acquired a new position in shares of AGNC Investment during the 4th quarter worth $32,509,000. Boston Partners boosted its position in shares of AGNC Investment by 522.4% in the 1st quarter. Boston Partners now owns 1,437,698 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock worth $14,229,000 after buying an additional 1,206,714 shares in the last quarter. Equity Investment Corp grew its stake in AGNC Investment by 16.2% in the 1st quarter. Equity Investment Corp now owns 6,870,571 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock valued at $68,019,000 after acquiring an additional 957,139 shares during the last quarter. Finally, 1832 Asset Management L.P. purchased a new position in AGNC Investment during the 1st quarter valued at about $7,920,000. 38.28% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.
A number of brokerages have recently commented on AGNC. Wells Fargo & Company raised shares of AGNC Investment from an "equal weight" rating to an "overweight" rating and lifted their target price for the company from $10.00 to $12.00 in a report on Friday, September 20th. Royal Bank of Canada upped their target price on shares of AGNC Investment from $10.00 to $11.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a report on Friday, August 16th. Maxim Group lowered AGNC Investment from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Wednesday, July 24th. JMP Securities reaffirmed a "market perform" rating on shares of AGNC Investment in a research note on Wednesday, August 28th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price objective on AGNC Investment from $9.50 to $10.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 16th. Five equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have issued a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, AGNC Investment presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $10.33.
Read Our Latest Stock Analysis on AGNC
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).
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