AIA Group Ltd Acquires New Stake in AGNC Investment Corp. (NASDAQ:AGNC)

AIA Group Ltd acquired a new stake in AGNC Investment Corp. (NASDAQ:AGNC) in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor acquired 32,011 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock, valued at approximately $314,000.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the company. Vaughan Nelson Investment Management L.P. acquired a new stake in AGNC Investment in the fourth quarter valued at $38,593,000. Citigroup Inc. increased its holdings in AGNC Investment by 103.2% in the third quarter. Citigroup Inc. now owns 185,721 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $1,753,000 after purchasing an additional 94,332 shares during the period. Van ECK Associates Corp increased its holdings in AGNC Investment by 4.7% in the third quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp now owns 1,752,044 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $16,539,000 after purchasing an additional 78,253 shares during the period. Stifel Financial Corp increased its holdings in AGNC Investment by 48.0% in the third quarter. Stifel Financial Corp now owns 451,460 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $4,262,000 after purchasing an additional 146,406 shares during the period. Finally, QRG Capital Management Inc. acquired a new stake in AGNC Investment during the 3rd quarter worth about $3,655,000. 38.28% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

AGNC Investment Price Performance

AGNC Investment stock opened at $9.15 on Friday. AGNC Investment Corp. has a 52 week low of $6.81 and a 52 week high of $10.64. The company’s 50 day moving average price is $9.56 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $9.25. The company has a quick ratio of 0.26, a current ratio of 0.26 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.01. The stock has a market cap of $6.36 billion, a P/E ratio of 915.92 and a beta of 1.45.

AGNC Investment (NASDAQ:AGNC) last posted its earnings results on Monday, January 29th. The real estate investment trust reported $0.60 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.49 by $0.11. AGNC Investment had a net margin of 7.59% and a return on equity of 28.02%. The firm had revenue of $640.00 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $570.42 million. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $0.74 EPS. On average, equities analysts predict that AGNC Investment Corp. will post 2.16 earnings per share for the current year.

AGNC Investment Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced 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. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, April 29th. This represents a dividend yield of 15.4%. AGNC Investment’s dividend payout ratio is currently 14,414.41%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

AGNC has been the subject of several research reports. Compass Point initiated coverage on AGNC Investment in a research note on Tuesday, February 20th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $10.25 target price for the company. Royal Bank of Canada reduced 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 Thursday, January 25th. Barclays raised their target price on AGNC Investment from $8.00 to $9.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Monday, January 22nd. JMP Securities restated a “market perform” rating on shares of AGNC Investment in a research note on Thursday. Finally, Jonestrading initiated coverage on AGNC Investment in a research note on Friday, March 22nd. They issued a “buy” rating and a $10.75 target price for the company. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and four have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $9.93.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, CFO Bernice Bell sold 10,000 shares of AGNC Investment stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, January 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $9.85, for a total value of $98,500.00. Following the sale, the chief financial officer now owns 287,282 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,829,727.70. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. 0.52% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

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).