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

AGNC Investment Corp. (NASDAQ:AGNC) saw some unusual options trading activity on Thursday. Investors purchased 49,777 put options on the stock. This represents an increase of approximately 40% compared to the typical daily volume of 35,478 put options.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several analysts have weighed in on AGNC shares. Barclays cut their price objective on AGNC Investment from $10.00 to $9.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, October 21st. Weiss Ratings cut AGNC Investment from a “hold (c+)” rating to a “sell (d+)” rating in a research note on Friday, October 30th. Piper Sandler dropped their price target on AGNC Investment from $12.00 to $10.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, October 9th. Compass Point cut AGNC Investment from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $11.50 price target on the stock. in a research note on Friday, July 17th. Finally, Wall Street Zen cut AGNC Investment from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research note on Saturday, October 17th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, seven have assigned a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $10.12.

AGNC Investment Stock Performance

Shares of AGNC stock traded down $0.28 during mid-day trading on Thursday, hitting $8.20. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 32,958,015 shares, compared to its average volume of 22,063,578. The stock has a market cap of $10.45 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 820.82 and a beta of 1.40. The business has a 50-day moving average price of $9.25 and a 200 day moving average price of $10.38. AGNC Investment has a 52-week low of $8.19 and a 52-week high of $12.19.

AGNC Investment (NASDAQ:AGNC) last announced its earnings results on Monday, October 19th. The real estate investment trust reported $0.37 earnings per share for the quarter, meeting analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.37. AGNC Investment had a net margin of 2.45% and a return on equity of 18.74%. The business had revenue of $1.20 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.06 billion. Equities research analysts predict that AGNC Investment will post 1.56 EPS for the current fiscal year.

AGNC Investment Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a monthly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, November 10th. Investors of record on Friday, October 30th were given a dividend of $0.12 per share. This represents a $1.44 annualized dividend and a yield of 17.6%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, October 30th. AGNC Investment’s payout ratio is 14,400.00%.

Insider Transactions at AGNC Investment

In related news, CEO Peter Federico sold 67,794 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, October 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $8.87, for a total value of $601,332.78. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 1,846,083 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $16,374,756.21. This represents a 3.54% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. 0.40% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On AGNC Investment

A number of institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. AlphaGrep UK Ltd grew its holdings in AGNC Investment by 767.9% during the third quarter. AlphaGrep UK Ltd now owns 95,941 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $870,000 after purchasing an additional 84,886 shares during the period. First Trust Advisors LP raised its stake in shares of AGNC Investment by 9.4% in the third quarter. First Trust Advisors LP now owns 3,211,262 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $29,126,000 after buying an additional 275,100 shares during the period. Cornerstone Select Advisors LLC raised its stake in shares of AGNC Investment by 25.6% in the third quarter. Cornerstone Select Advisors LLC now owns 127,041 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $1,152,000 after buying an additional 25,899 shares during the period. Advisors Asset Management Inc. purchased a new position in shares of AGNC Investment during the 3rd quarter valued at about $10,742,000. Finally, Private Advisor Group LLC lifted its position in shares of AGNC Investment by 31.4% during the 3rd quarter. Private Advisor Group LLC now owns 264,636 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $2,400,000 after buying an additional 63,188 shares in the last quarter. 38.28% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

AGNC Investment Company Profile

AGNC Investment Corp. is a mortgage real estate investment trust that focuses primarily on investing in agency residential mortgage-backed securities. These securities are backed by mortgages and carry guarantees or support from U.S. government agencies or government-sponsored enterprises. The company’s portfolio includes mortgage pass-through securities and collateralized mortgage obligations. AGNC finances its investments and uses hedging strategies to manage risks associated with interest rates and mortgage markets.