AGNC Investment Corp. $AGNC Shares Purchased by Thrivent Financial for Lutherans

Thrivent Financial for Lutherans boosted its position in AGNC Investment Corp. (NASDAQ:AGNC) by 19.6% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 574,569 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock after acquiring an additional 94,172 shares during the quarter. Thrivent Financial for Lutherans’ holdings in AGNC Investment were worth $6,159,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised its holdings in AGNC Investment by 29.4% in the third quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 1,429,581 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $14,000,000 after acquiring an additional 325,104 shares in the last quarter. Citigroup Inc. increased its stake in AGNC Investment by 39.4% in the third quarter. Citigroup Inc. now owns 1,311,549 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $12,840,000 after purchasing an additional 370,525 shares during the last quarter. Handelsbanken Fonder AB increased its stake in AGNC Investment by 68.2% in the third quarter. Handelsbanken Fonder AB now owns 370,100 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $3,623,000 after purchasing an additional 150,000 shares during the last quarter. Trivium Point Advisory LLC increased its stake in AGNC Investment by 19.4% in the third quarter. Trivium Point Advisory LLC now owns 1,139,528 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $11,156,000 after purchasing an additional 184,929 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Waterfront Wealth Inc. increased its stake in AGNC Investment by 38.6% in the third quarter. Waterfront Wealth Inc. now owns 176,607 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $1,796,000 after purchasing an additional 49,219 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 38.28% of the company’s stock.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, CEO Peter J. Federico sold 64,412 shares of AGNC Investment stock in a transaction on Tuesday, April 28th. The shares were sold at an average price of $11.08, for a total value of $713,684.96. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 1,927,083 shares in the company, valued at $21,352,079.64. This trade represents a 3.23% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, Director Donna Blank sold 22,000 shares of AGNC Investment stock in a transaction on Wednesday, May 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $10.78, for a total transaction of $237,160.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director owned 96,471 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,039,957.38. This trade represents a 18.57% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Over the last quarter, insiders sold 215,234 shares of company stock worth $2,364,022. 0.40% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

AGNC Investment Trading Up 1.2%

Shares of AGNC opened at $10.25 on Thursday. The firm has a market cap of $11.77 billion, a PE ratio of 8.47 and a beta of 1.35. The company’s 50 day simple moving average is $10.47 and its 200-day simple moving average is $10.76. AGNC Investment Corp. has a 12-month low of $8.65 and a 12-month high of $12.19.

AGNC Investment (NASDAQ:AGNC) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Monday, April 20th. The real estate investment trust reported $0.42 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.36 by $0.06. AGNC Investment had a net margin of 39.50% and a return on equity of 18.31%. The firm had revenue of ($114.00) million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $411.57 million. As a group, equities research analysts forecast that AGNC Investment Corp. will post 1.56 EPS for the current fiscal year.

AGNC Investment Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a monthly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, June 9th. Investors of record on Friday, May 29th will be given a $0.12 dividend. This represents a c) dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 14.0%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, May 29th. AGNC Investment’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 119.01%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities analysts have commented on the stock. Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of AGNC Investment from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Saturday, April 25th. Weiss Ratings reiterated a “hold (c)” rating on shares of AGNC Investment in a research note on Friday, March 27th. Wells Fargo & Company increased their price target on shares of AGNC Investment from $10.00 to $12.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, January 28th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. dropped their price target on shares of AGNC Investment from $12.00 to $11.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, April 16th. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods reiterated a “market perform” rating and issued a $12.00 price target (up from $11.00) on shares of AGNC Investment in a research note on Thursday, January 29th. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and six have issued a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, AGNC Investment presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $11.06.

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.