Ethic Inc. Acquires 71,288 Shares of AGNC Investment Corp. $AGNC

Ethic Inc. raised its holdings in AGNC Investment Corp. (NASDAQ:AGNC) by 46.7% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 223,848 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock after acquiring an additional 71,288 shares during the period. Ethic Inc.’s holdings in AGNC Investment were worth $2,400,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Several other large investors also recently modified their holdings of AGNC. Choreo LLC grew its position in shares of AGNC Investment by 5.0% in the 3rd quarter. Choreo LLC now owns 20,784 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $206,000 after purchasing an additional 985 shares during the period. Sound Income Strategies LLC increased its stake in AGNC Investment by 61.1% during the 4th quarter. Sound Income Strategies LLC now owns 2,762 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $30,000 after purchasing an additional 1,048 shares in the last quarter. Pathstone Holdings LLC raised its holdings in 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 during the period. Nwam LLC lifted its stake in AGNC Investment by 4.5% in the third quarter. Nwam LLC now owns 27,353 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $279,000 after buying an additional 1,177 shares in the last quarter. Finally, IFP Advisors Inc boosted its holdings in shares of AGNC Investment by 6.5% in the third quarter. IFP Advisors Inc now owns 19,701 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $193,000 after buying an additional 1,197 shares during the period. 38.28% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities research analysts have recently issued reports on AGNC shares. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered their price objective on shares of AGNC Investment from $12.00 to $11.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, April 16th. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “hold (c)” rating on shares of AGNC Investment in a research note on Friday, March 27th. Piper Sandler lowered their target price on AGNC Investment from $12.50 to $10.50 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, April 2nd. UBS Group lifted their price target on AGNC Investment from $10.50 to $11.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Friday, April 24th. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods restated a “market perform” rating and issued a $12.00 price target (up from $11.00) on shares of AGNC Investment in a report on Thursday, January 29th. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and six have assigned a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $11.06.

Insider Transactions at AGNC Investment

In other news, CEO Peter J. Federico sold 64,412 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, April 28th. The shares were sold at an average price of $11.08, for a total transaction of $713,684.96. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 1,927,083 shares in the company, valued at $21,352,079.64. This 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 dated Wednesday, May 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $10.78, for a total value of $237,160.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director directly owned 96,471 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,039,957.38. This represents a 18.57% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Over the last 90 days, insiders have sold 215,234 shares of company stock valued at $2,364,022. Company insiders own 0.40% of the company’s stock.

AGNC Investment Stock Down 0.6%

NASDAQ AGNC opened at $10.74 on Wednesday. The firm’s 50 day moving average is $10.53 and its 200-day moving average is $10.75. The company has a market capitalization of $12.33 billion, a PE ratio of 8.88 and a beta of 1.35. AGNC Investment Corp. has a 12-month low of $8.65 and a 12-month high of $12.19.

AGNC Investment (NASDAQ:AGNC) last announced its 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. The business had revenue of ($114.00) million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $411.57 million. AGNC Investment had a net margin of 39.50% and a return on equity of 18.31%. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that AGNC Investment Corp. will post 1.56 EPS for the current year.

AGNC Investment Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a monthly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, June 9th. Shareholders of record on Friday, May 29th will be given a dividend of $0.12 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, May 29th. This represents a c) annualized dividend and a yield of 13.4%. AGNC Investment’s payout ratio is 119.01%.

AGNC Investment Profile

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.