Janney Montgomery Scott LLC Acquires 45,457 Shares of AGNC Investment Corp. (NASDAQ:AGNC)

Janney Montgomery Scott LLC grew its holdings in shares of AGNC Investment Corp. (NASDAQ:AGNC) by 22.3% in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The fund owned 249,127 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock after acquiring an additional 45,457 shares during the period. Janney Montgomery Scott LLC’s holdings in AGNC Investment were worth $2,387,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other large investors have also recently modified their holdings of AGNC. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its position in shares of AGNC Investment by 14.1% during the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 83,316,872 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $767,348,000 after buying an additional 10,316,999 shares during the period. Norges Bank acquired a new stake in shares of AGNC Investment during the fourth quarter worth $87,269,000. PL Capital Advisors LLC increased its position in shares of AGNC Investment by 821.0% during the fourth quarter. PL Capital Advisors LLC now owns 5,464,956 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $50,332,000 after buying an additional 4,871,584 shares during the period. Raymond James Financial Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of AGNC Investment during the fourth quarter worth $39,840,000. Finally, Vaughan Nelson Investment Management L.P. increased its position in shares of AGNC Investment by 18.0% during the first quarter. Vaughan Nelson Investment Management L.P. now owns 16,996,741 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $162,828,000 after buying an additional 2,589,020 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 38.28% of the company’s stock.

AGNC Investment Stock Down 0.9%

AGNC Investment stock opened at $9.23 on Thursday. AGNC Investment Corp. has a 1-year low of $7.85 and a 1-year high of $10.85. The firm has a market capitalization of $9.42 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 23.08 and a beta of 1.29. The firm’s fifty day moving average price is $8.97 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $9.44. The company has a current ratio of 0.28, a quick ratio of 0.28 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.01.

AGNC Investment (NASDAQ:AGNC) last released its quarterly earnings data on Monday, April 21st. The real estate investment trust reported $0.44 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.41 by $0.03. AGNC Investment had a net margin of 14.91% and a return on equity of 20.36%. The firm had revenue of $846.00 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $436.71 million. During the same period last year, the firm earned $0.58 earnings per share. On average, equities research analysts predict that AGNC Investment Corp. will post 1.61 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

AGNC Investment Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a jun 25 dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, July 10th. Shareholders of record on Monday, June 30th will be paid a $0.12 dividend. This represents a dividend yield of 15.5%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, June 30th. AGNC Investment’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 360.00%.

Insider Buying and Selling at AGNC Investment

In other AGNC Investment news, EVP Kenneth L. Pollack sold 17,500 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, April 29th. The shares were sold at an average price of $9.03, for a total value of $158,025.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 447,841 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $4,044,004.23. This trade represents a 3.76% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, CEO Peter J. Federico sold 48,333 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, April 28th. The shares were sold at an average price of $8.88, for a total transaction of $429,197.04. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 1,643,088 shares in the company, valued at $14,590,621.44. The trade was a 2.86% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 139,384 shares of company stock valued at $1,228,039. Corporate insiders own 0.42% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research firms have recently weighed in on AGNC. Argus reiterated a “hold” rating on shares of AGNC Investment in a research report on Tuesday, April 29th. Wall Street Zen cut shares of AGNC Investment from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a report on Tuesday, May 6th. Wells Fargo & Company reduced their price target on shares of AGNC Investment from $11.00 to $10.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, April 22nd. Royal Bank Of Canada reduced their price target on shares of AGNC Investment from $11.00 to $10.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, April 29th. Finally, Jones Trading reduced their price target on shares of AGNC Investment from $10.25 to $9.50 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, April 22nd. One 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 data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $9.75.

AGNC Investment 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).