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

AGNC Investment Corp. (NASDAQ:AGNC) saw unusually large options trading activity on Tuesday. Investors acquired 81,270 put options on the stock. This represents an increase of approximately 197% compared to the average volume of 27,361 put options.

AGNC Investment Stock Down 1.0 %

AGNC stock opened at $9.15 on Wednesday. The firm has a 50 day moving average of $9.54 and a 200 day moving average of $9.27. The stock has a market capitalization of $6.36 billion, a PE ratio of 10.06 and a beta of 1.45. The company has a quick ratio of 0.26, a current ratio of 0.26 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.01. AGNC Investment has a 52 week low of $6.81 and a 52 week high of $10.64.

AGNC Investment (NASDAQ:AGNC) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, April 23rd. The real estate investment trust reported $0.58 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.56 by $0.02. The company had revenue of $642.00 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $568.38 million. AGNC Investment had a net margin of 32.12% and a return on equity of 27.92%. During the same period last year, the business earned $0.70 EPS. Sell-side analysts forecast that AGNC Investment will post 2.1 earnings per share for the current year.

AGNC Investment Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a apr 24 dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, May 9th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, April 30th will be given a dividend of $0.12 per share. This represents a yield of 15.4%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, April 29th. AGNC Investment’s dividend payout ratio is presently 158.24%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other AGNC Investment news, Director Frances Spark sold 5,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, April 24th. The shares were sold at an average price of $9.35, for a total transaction of $46,750.00. Following the transaction, the director now owns 75,545 shares in the company, valued at $706,345.75. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. 0.43% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On AGNC Investment

Institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the business. MeadowBrook Investment Advisors LLC purchased a new position in AGNC Investment during the 4th quarter worth approximately $30,000. Bruce G. Allen Investments LLC purchased a new position in AGNC Investment during the 4th quarter worth approximately $37,000. Verity & Verity LLC purchased a new position in shares of AGNC Investment during the 1st quarter valued at approximately $45,000. CENTRAL TRUST Co purchased a new position in shares of AGNC Investment during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $46,000. Finally, Allworth Financial LP increased its holdings in shares of AGNC Investment by 76.5% during the 4th quarter. Allworth Financial LP now owns 4,836 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $47,000 after purchasing an additional 2,096 shares in the last quarter. 38.28% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research analysts have issued reports on AGNC shares. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods dropped their target price on shares of AGNC Investment from $10.00 to $9.50 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, April 24th. Compass Point started coverage on shares of AGNC Investment in a report on Tuesday, February 20th. They set a “buy” rating and a $10.25 target price on the stock. StockNews.com upgraded shares of AGNC Investment from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday, March 12th. JMP Securities reiterated a “market perform” rating on shares of AGNC Investment in a report on Thursday, April 18th. Finally, Barclays raised their price target on shares of AGNC Investment from $8.00 to $9.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Monday, January 22nd. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and four have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $9.79.

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).