AGNC Investment (NASDAQ:AGNC) Hits New 12-Month High Following Dividend Announcement

Shares of AGNC Investment Corp. (NASDAQ:AGNC) reached a new 52-week high on Thursday after the company announced a dividend. The company traded as high as $11.25 and last traded at $11.06, with a volume of 16870396 shares trading hands. The stock had previously closed at $11.16.

The newly announced dividend which will be paid on Tuesday, February 10th. Shareholders of record on Friday, January 30th will be paid a $0.12 dividend. This represents a c) annualized dividend and a yield of 12.6%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, January 30th. AGNC Investment’s dividend payout ratio is presently 214.93%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of brokerages have recently weighed in on AGNC. Wall Street Zen downgraded AGNC Investment from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research report on Saturday, December 27th. Royal Bank Of Canada increased their price objective on shares of AGNC Investment from $10.00 to $11.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 22nd. Barclays lifted their price objective on shares of AGNC Investment from $9.00 to $10.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Tuesday. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their target price on shares of AGNC Investment from $9.50 to $10.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Monday, October 20th. Finally, Piper Sandler increased their price target on shares of AGNC Investment from $10.50 to $11.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Monday, December 22nd. Six equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and six have given a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, AGNC Investment has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $10.34.

AGNC Investment Price Performance

The company has a market cap of $12.24 billion, a PE ratio of 17.03 and a beta of 1.36. The company has a quick ratio of 0.31, a current ratio of 0.31 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.01. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $10.52 and a 200-day simple moving average of $10.02.

AGNC Investment (NASDAQ:AGNC) last announced its earnings results on Monday, October 20th. The real estate investment trust reported $0.35 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.38 by ($0.03). The business had revenue of $836.00 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $466.39 million. AGNC Investment had a net margin of 24.40% and a return on equity of 18.84%. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $0.43 earnings per share. As a group, research analysts predict that AGNC Investment Corp. will post 1.61 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, CEO Peter J. Federico sold 45,798 shares of AGNC Investment stock in a transaction dated Monday, October 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $10.27, for a total transaction of $470,345.46. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer owned 1,557,401 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $15,994,508.27. The trade was a 2.86% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Insiders own 0.42% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its position in AGNC Investment by 1.7% during the third quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 96,440,345 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $944,151,000 after acquiring an additional 1,591,465 shares in the last quarter. Kingstone Capital Partners Texas LLC grew its stake in shares of AGNC Investment by 241,567.4% during the 2nd quarter. Kingstone Capital Partners Texas LLC now owns 46,388,062 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $446,651,000 after purchasing an additional 46,368,867 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC increased its holdings in shares of AGNC Investment by 10.9% during the 2nd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 24,995,789 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $229,990,000 after purchasing an additional 2,461,255 shares in the last quarter. State Street Corp lifted its stake in shares of AGNC Investment by 12.9% in the 2nd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 16,693,449 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $155,383,000 after purchasing an additional 1,906,785 shares during the period. Finally, Norges Bank purchased a new stake in AGNC Investment during the second quarter worth $109,814,000. 38.28% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

About AGNC Investment

AGNC Investment Corp. is a self-managed real estate investment trust (REIT) that primarily acquires and manages a portfolio of residential mortgage-backed securities guaranteed by U.S. government-sponsored enterprises such as Ginnie Mae, Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac. The company employs a leveraged total return strategy, borrowing against its securities to enhance income potential while using interest rate hedges to manage risk. AGNC’s investment objective is to generate attractive monthly dividends and long-term capital appreciation for its shareholders.

Founded in 2008 and headquartered in Bethesda, Maryland, AGNC focuses exclusively on U.S.