Stock Traders Buy Large Volume of AGNC Investment Put Options (NASDAQ:AGNC)

AGNC Investment Corp. (NASDAQ:AGNC) was the target of unusually large options trading on Wednesday. Stock investors acquired 61,469 put options on the company. This represents an increase of 64% compared to the average daily volume of 37,568 put options.

Insider Transactions at AGNC Investment

In other AGNC Investment news, CEO Peter J. Federico sold 45,798 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, October 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $10.27, for a total transaction of $470,345.46. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 1,557,401 shares in the company, valued at approximately $15,994,508.27. This represents a 2.86% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Company insiders own 0.42% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of AGNC Investment

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Choreo LLC boosted its holdings in AGNC Investment by 5.0% during the third quarter. Choreo LLC now owns 20,784 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $206,000 after purchasing an additional 985 shares during the last quarter. Sound Income Strategies LLC increased its stake in AGNC Investment by 61.1% in the 4th quarter. Sound Income Strategies LLC now owns 2,762 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $30,000 after buying an additional 1,048 shares during the last quarter. Brighton Jones LLC lifted its position in shares of AGNC Investment by 7.2% during the 2nd quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 15,800 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $145,000 after buying an additional 1,064 shares in the last quarter. Pathstone Holdings LLC lifted its position in shares of AGNC Investment by 0.5% during the 3rd quarter. Pathstone Holdings LLC now owns 218,805 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $2,165,000 after buying an additional 1,065 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Compass Financial Group INC SD boosted its stake in shares of AGNC Investment by 5.3% in the 3rd quarter. Compass Financial Group INC SD now owns 21,521 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $211,000 after buying an additional 1,084 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 38.28% of the company’s stock.

AGNC Investment Stock Down 0.6%

Shares of AGNC Investment stock traded down $0.07 on Wednesday, hitting $11.60. The company had a trading volume of 4,056,576 shares, compared to its average volume of 20,522,223. The stock has a market capitalization of $12.44 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 17.31 and a beta of 1.36. AGNC Investment has a 1 year low of $7.85 and a 1 year high of $11.93. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $10.71 and a 200-day moving average of $10.14. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.01, a quick ratio of 0.31 and a current ratio of 0.31.

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). AGNC Investment had a net margin of 24.40% and a return on equity of 18.84%. The company had revenue of $836.00 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $466.39 million. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $0.43 EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that AGNC Investment will post 1.61 earnings per share for the current year.

AGNC Investment Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a monthly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, February 10th. Shareholders of record on Friday, January 30th will be issued a dividend of $0.12 per share. This represents a c) dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 12.4%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, January 30th. AGNC Investment’s payout ratio is currently 214.93%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research analysts recently issued reports on the stock. Wall Street Zen downgraded shares of AGNC Investment from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research report on Saturday, December 27th. Jones Trading reaffirmed a “buy” rating and issued a $10.00 price target on shares of AGNC Investment in a research note on Tuesday, October 21st. Royal Bank Of Canada upped their price objective on shares of AGNC Investment from $10.00 to $11.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 22nd. Piper Sandler increased their price objective on shares of AGNC Investment from $11.00 to $11.50 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 15th. Finally, Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “hold (c)” rating on shares of AGNC Investment in a research report on Monday, December 29th. Six analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and six have assigned a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $10.41.

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.