Norges Bank Makes New $69.22 Million Investment in AGNC Investment Corp. (NASDAQ:AGNC)

Norges Bank acquired a new position in AGNC Investment Corp. (NASDAQ:AGNC) during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund acquired 7,055,597 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock, valued at approximately $69,215,000. Norges Bank owned about 1.05% of AGNC Investment at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of the company. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its position in shares of AGNC Investment by 0.4% during the 3rd quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 57,347,540 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $541,361,000 after buying an additional 242,548 shares during the last quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC lifted its position in shares of AGNC Investment by 5.4% during the 4th quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC now owns 7,682,998 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $75,370,000 after buying an additional 395,796 shares during the last quarter. Clearbridge Investments LLC lifted its position in shares of AGNC Investment by 85.6% during the 3rd quarter. Clearbridge Investments LLC now owns 7,301,298 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $68,924,000 after buying an additional 3,367,112 shares during the last quarter. Equity Investment Corp lifted its position in shares of AGNC Investment by 3.8% during the 3rd quarter. Equity Investment Corp now owns 6,343,975 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $59,887,000 after buying an additional 230,265 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Northern Trust Corp lifted its position in shares of AGNC Investment by 6.8% during the 3rd quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 5,540,115 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $52,299,000 after buying an additional 352,385 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 38.28% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

AGNC has been the topic of a number of recent research reports. JMP Securities reaffirmed a “market perform” rating on shares of AGNC Investment in a research report on Thursday, April 18th. Compass Point began coverage on AGNC Investment in a research note on Tuesday, February 20th. They set a “buy” rating and a $10.25 price objective on the stock. StockNews.com upgraded AGNC Investment from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday, March 12th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods decreased their price objective on AGNC Investment from $10.00 to $9.50 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, April 24th. Finally, Jonestrading decreased their price objective on AGNC Investment from $10.75 to $10.25 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, April 23rd. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and four have issued a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $9.79.

Insider Transactions at AGNC Investment

In other news, Director Frances Spark sold 5,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, April 24th. The stock was sold at an average price of $9.35, for a total value of $46,750.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 75,545 shares in the company, valued at approximately $706,345.75. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. In related news, Director Frances Spark sold 5,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, April 24th. The stock was sold at an average price of $9.35, for a total transaction of $46,750.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 75,545 shares in the company, valued at approximately $706,345.75. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, Director Paul E. Mullings sold 5,400 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, May 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $9.40, for a total value of $50,760.00. Following the sale, the director now owns 111,827 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,051,173.80. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders sold 15,900 shares of company stock worth $149,030. 0.52% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

AGNC Investment Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ AGNC opened at $9.64 on Monday. The firm has a market capitalization of $7.01 billion, a P/E ratio of 10.59 and a beta of 1.45. The company has a quick ratio of 0.28, a current ratio of 0.28 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.01. The stock’s 50-day simple moving average is $9.55 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $9.48. AGNC Investment Corp. has a twelve month low of $6.81 and a twelve month high of $10.64.

AGNC Investment (NASDAQ:AGNC) last announced its earnings results on Tuesday, April 23rd. The real estate investment trust reported $0.58 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.56 by $0.02. AGNC Investment had a return on equity of 27.14% and a net margin of 32.12%. The business had revenue of $642.00 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $568.38 million. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $0.70 EPS. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that AGNC Investment Corp. will post 2.1 EPS for the current fiscal year.

AGNC Investment Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a may 24 dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, June 11th. Stockholders of record on Friday, May 31st will be issued a $0.12 dividend. This represents a dividend yield of 14.9%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, May 31st. AGNC Investment’s payout ratio is currently 158.24%.

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).