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

AGNC Investment Corp. (NASDAQ:AGNC) was the recipient of some unusual options trading activity on Friday. Investors acquired 68,625 put options on the company. This is an increase of 73% compared to the typical daily volume of 39,730 put options.

AGNC Investment Stock Up 0.9%

Shares of NASDAQ:AGNC opened at $9.12 on Friday. The company has a current ratio of 0.23, a quick ratio of 0.23 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.01. The company has a fifty day simple moving average of $8.82 and a 200 day simple moving average of $9.48. The firm has a market cap of $9.31 billion, a PE ratio of 9.40 and a beta of 1.29. AGNC Investment has a 12-month low of $7.85 and a 12-month high of $10.85.

AGNC Investment (NASDAQ:AGNC) last issued its quarterly 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. The business had revenue of $846.00 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $436.71 million. AGNC Investment had a net margin of 29.26% and a return on equity of 21.92%. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $0.58 earnings per share. On average, equities research analysts anticipate that AGNC Investment will post 1.61 EPS for the current fiscal year.

AGNC Investment Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a may 25 dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, June 10th. Shareholders of record on Friday, May 30th will be paid a dividend of $0.12 per share. The ex-dividend date is Friday, May 30th. This represents a yield of 16.2%. AGNC Investment’s payout ratio is 360.00%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

AGNC has been the topic of a number of recent research reports. Wells Fargo & Company reduced their price target on shares of AGNC Investment from $11.00 to $10.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, April 22nd. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods dropped their price objective on shares of AGNC Investment from $10.25 to $9.50 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, June 3rd. Argus reiterated a “hold” rating on shares of AGNC Investment in a research note on Tuesday, April 29th. Wall Street Zen lowered shares of AGNC Investment from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research note on Tuesday, May 6th. Finally, Jones Trading dropped their price objective on shares of AGNC Investment from $10.25 to $9.50 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, April 22nd. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have given a hold rating and six have given a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, AGNC Investment has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $9.75.

Insider Buying and Selling at AGNC Investment

In other AGNC Investment news, CEO Peter J. Federico sold 48,333 shares of AGNC Investment stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, April 25th. The shares were sold at an average price of $8.70, for a total transaction of $420,497.10. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 1,691,421 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $14,715,362.70. The trade was a 2.78% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, EVP Bernice Bell sold 8,000 shares of AGNC Investment stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, May 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $8.88, for a total transaction of $71,040.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 374,019 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,321,288.72. This trade represents a 2.09% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 139,384 shares of company stock valued at $1,228,039 over the last ninety days. Corporate insiders own 0.42% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of AGNC Investment

Several institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Rhumbline Advisers increased its stake in AGNC Investment by 6.5% during the first quarter. Rhumbline Advisers now owns 777,264 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $7,446,000 after purchasing an additional 47,699 shares during the last quarter. Strs Ohio bought a new stake in AGNC Investment during the first quarter valued at $2,149,000. Advisors Capital Management LLC increased its stake in AGNC Investment by 2.6% during the first quarter. Advisors Capital Management LLC now owns 1,067,011 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $10,222,000 after purchasing an additional 26,942 shares during the last quarter. Mendon Capital Advisors Corp bought a new stake in AGNC Investment during the first quarter valued at $1,916,000. Finally, Integrity Alliance LLC. bought a new stake in AGNC Investment during the first quarter valued at $996,000. Institutional investors own 38.28% of the company’s stock.

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).