AGNC Investment Sees Unusually Large Options Volume (NASDAQ:AGNC)

AGNC Investment Corp. (NASDAQ:AGNC) saw some unusual options trading on Monday. Investors purchased 47,774 call options on the company. This represents an increase of 64% compared to the average daily volume of 29,153 call options.

AGNC Investment Trading Down 0.0%

AGNC traded down $0.01 during trading on Monday, hitting $10.89. 14,841,286 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 18,663,959. The company has a market cap of $12.51 billion, a PE ratio of 9.01 and a beta of 1.32. The stock’s 50-day simple moving average is $10.53 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $10.77. AGNC Investment has a 1 year low of $9.08 and a 1 year high of $12.19.

AGNC Investment (NASDAQ:AGNC) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Monday, April 20th. The real estate investment trust reported $0.42 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.36 by $0.06. AGNC Investment had a net margin of 39.50% and a return on equity of 18.31%. The business had revenue of ($114.00) million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $411.57 million. Equities analysts expect that AGNC Investment will post 1.56 EPS for the current year.

AGNC Investment Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a monthly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, July 10th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, June 30th will be paid a $0.12 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, June 30th. This represents a c) dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 13.2%. AGNC Investment’s payout ratio is presently 119.01%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other AGNC Investment news, CEO Peter J. Federico sold 64,412 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, April 28th. The shares were sold at an average price of $11.08, for a total transaction of $713,684.96. Following the sale, the chief executive officer owned 1,927,083 shares in the company, valued at approximately $21,352,079.64. This trade represents a 3.23% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through 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 the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, May 6th. The stock was 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 of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,039,957.38. The trade was a 18.57% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Over the last quarter, insiders have sold 215,234 shares of company stock valued at $2,364,022. 0.40% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Trading of AGNC Investment

A number of institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its stake in shares of AGNC Investment by 1.4% in the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 97,745,127 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $1,047,828,000 after acquiring an additional 1,304,782 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its stake in shares of AGNC Investment by 5.8% during the 4th quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 29,097,741 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $312,275,000 after purchasing an additional 1,596,244 shares during the period. State Street Corp grew its holdings in AGNC Investment by 6.4% during the 4th quarter. State Street Corp now owns 18,245,939 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $197,774,000 after purchasing an additional 1,090,374 shares during the last quarter. Norges Bank purchased a new stake in AGNC Investment in the 4th quarter worth about $141,830,000. Finally, Morgan Stanley raised its position in AGNC Investment by 24.3% in the 4th quarter. Morgan Stanley now owns 7,491,585 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $80,310,000 after purchasing an additional 1,462,468 shares during the period. 38.28% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research firms recently weighed in on AGNC. Royal Bank Of Canada restated an “outperform” rating and set a $12.00 target price on shares of AGNC Investment in a research note on Friday, April 24th. Piper Sandler reiterated an “overweight” rating on shares of AGNC Investment in a research note on Thursday, June 4th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. decreased their price target on AGNC Investment from $12.00 to $11.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, April 16th. Wall Street Zen upgraded AGNC Investment from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Saturday, April 25th. Finally, Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “hold (c)” rating on shares of AGNC Investment in a research note on Wednesday. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and six have given a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock 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.