Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC Raises Stake in AGNC Investment Corp. (NASDAQ:AGNC)

Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC lifted its stake in shares of AGNC Investment Corp. (NASDAQ:AGNC) by 6.9% during the first quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The firm owned 117,763 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock after purchasing an additional 7,650 shares during the period. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC’s holdings in AGNC Investment were worth $1,128,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other large investors have also made changes to their positions in AGNC. Fourth Dimension Wealth LLC acquired a new position in shares of AGNC Investment during the 4th quarter worth $26,000. National Bank of Canada FI increased its stake in shares of AGNC Investment by 112.7% during the 4th quarter. National Bank of Canada FI now owns 3,458 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $32,000 after purchasing an additional 1,832 shares in the last quarter. CoreCap Advisors LLC raised its position in shares of AGNC Investment by 34.8% during the 4th quarter. CoreCap Advisors LLC now owns 4,765 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $44,000 after purchasing an additional 1,229 shares during the last quarter. Strategic Investment Solutions Inc. IL boosted its stake in shares of AGNC Investment by 150.0% during the fourth quarter. Strategic Investment Solutions Inc. IL now owns 5,000 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $46,000 after acquiring an additional 3,000 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Front Row Advisors LLC grew its holdings in shares of AGNC Investment by 75.0% during the fourth quarter. Front Row Advisors LLC now owns 7,000 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $65,000 after buying an additional 3,000 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 38.28% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, Director Donna Blank sold 17,218 shares of AGNC Investment stock in a transaction on Tuesday, May 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $8.67, for a total value of $149,280.06. Following the transaction, the director owned 90,345 shares in the company, valued at $783,291.15. This trade represents a 16.01% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, EVP Kenneth L. Pollack sold 17,500 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, April 29th. The shares were sold at an average price of $9.03, for a total value of $158,025.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president directly owned 447,841 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,044,004.23. This represents a 3.76% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 139,384 shares of company stock valued at $1,228,039 over the last 90 days. 0.42% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

AGNC Investment Trading Up 1.6%

Shares of AGNC stock opened at $9.34 on Wednesday. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $9.05 and a two-hundred day moving average of $9.43. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.01, a quick ratio of 0.28 and a current ratio of 0.28. The firm has a market capitalization of $9.53 billion, a PE ratio of 23.35 and a beta of 1.28. AGNC Investment Corp. has a 1 year low of $7.85 and a 1 year high of $10.85.

AGNC Investment (NASDAQ:AGNC) last released its earnings results on Monday, April 21st. The real estate investment trust reported $0.44 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.41 by $0.03. AGNC Investment had a return on equity of 20.36% and a net margin of 14.91%. The firm had revenue of $846.00 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $436.71 million. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $0.58 earnings per share. As a group, research analysts expect that AGNC Investment Corp. will post 1.61 EPS for the current year.

AGNC Investment Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a jun 25 dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, July 10th. Shareholders of record on Monday, June 30th will be given a $0.12 dividend. This represents a yield of 15.5%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, June 30th. AGNC Investment’s dividend payout ratio is 360.00%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

AGNC has been the subject of a number of recent analyst reports. Jones Trading lowered their price objective on AGNC Investment from $10.25 to $9.50 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, April 22nd. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reduced their target price on AGNC Investment from $9.50 to $8.50 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, April 16th. Wall Street Zen cut shares of AGNC Investment from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research report on Tuesday, May 6th. Argus restated a “hold” rating on shares of AGNC Investment in a research note on Tuesday, April 29th. Finally, Royal Bank Of Canada lowered their target price on AGNC Investment from $11.00 to $10.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, April 29th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have issued a hold rating and six have given a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, AGNC Investment currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $9.75.

About AGNC Investment

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).