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

AGNC Investment Corp. (NASDAQ:AGNC) saw some unusual options trading on Monday. Traders acquired 47,774 call options on the company. This is an increase of approximately 64% compared to the typical volume of 29,153 call options.

AGNC Investment Price Performance

Shares of AGNC traded down $0.01 during trading hours on Monday, hitting $10.89. The stock had a trading volume of 14,841,286 shares, compared to its average volume of 18,663,959. AGNC Investment has a 12 month low of $9.08 and a 12 month high of $12.19. The firm has a market capitalization of $12.51 billion, a PE ratio of 9.01 and a beta of 1.32. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $10.53 and a 200 day moving average price of $10.77.

AGNC Investment (NASDAQ:AGNC) last posted its earnings results on Monday, April 20th. The real estate investment trust reported $0.42 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.36 by $0.06. AGNC Investment had a return on equity of 18.31% and a net margin of 39.50%.The company had revenue of ($114.00) million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $411.57 million. As a group, analysts anticipate 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 will be paid on Friday, July 10th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, June 30th will be issued a dividend of $0.12 per share. This represents a c) dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 13.2%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, June 30th. AGNC Investment’s dividend payout ratio is currently 119.01%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

AGNC has been the topic of several recent analyst reports. Piper Sandler reiterated an “overweight” rating on shares of AGNC Investment in a research note on Thursday, June 4th. UBS Group upped their price target on AGNC Investment from $10.50 to $11.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Friday, April 24th. Royal Bank Of Canada reiterated an “outperform” rating and issued a $12.00 price objective on shares of AGNC Investment in a report on Friday, April 24th. Wall Street Zen raised AGNC Investment from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Saturday, April 25th. Finally, Weiss Ratings restated a “hold (c)” rating on shares of AGNC Investment in a research note on Wednesday. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and six have given a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, AGNC Investment presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $11.06.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, CEO Peter J. Federico sold 64,412 shares of AGNC Investment stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, April 28th. The stock was sold at an average price of $11.08, for a total value of $713,684.96. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer owned 1,927,083 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $21,352,079.64. The trade was a 3.23% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, Director Donna Blank sold 22,000 shares of AGNC Investment stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, May 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $10.78, for a total transaction of $237,160.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director directly owned 96,471 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,039,957.38. This trade represents a 18.57% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Insiders have sold 215,234 shares of company stock valued at $2,364,022 in the last quarter. 0.40% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. AQR Capital Management LLC raised its holdings in AGNC Investment by 51.9% in the 1st quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 64,100 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $614,000 after purchasing an additional 21,897 shares during the period. NewEdge Advisors LLC grew its holdings in AGNC Investment by 38.4% during the first quarter. NewEdge Advisors LLC now owns 24,941 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $239,000 after purchasing an additional 6,923 shares during the period. UBS AM A Distinct Business Unit of UBS Asset Management Americas LLC grew its holdings in AGNC Investment by 16.0% during the first quarter. UBS AM A Distinct Business Unit of UBS Asset Management Americas LLC now owns 2,811,782 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $26,937,000 after purchasing an additional 387,524 shares during the period. Hsbc Holdings PLC increased its position in AGNC Investment by 57.8% in the second quarter. Hsbc Holdings PLC now owns 37,642 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $346,000 after buying an additional 13,793 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Invesco Ltd. increased its position in AGNC Investment by 8.9% in the second quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 2,494,606 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $22,925,000 after buying an additional 203,610 shares in the last quarter. 38.28% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

About AGNC Investment

AGNC Investment Corp. is a self-managed real estate investment trust (REIT) that primarily acquires and manages a portfolio of residential mortgage-backed securities guaranteed by U.S. government-sponsored enterprises such as Ginnie Mae, Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac. The company employs a leveraged total return strategy, borrowing against its securities to enhance income potential while using interest rate hedges to manage risk. AGNC’s investment objective is to generate attractive monthly dividends and long-term capital appreciation for its shareholders.

Founded in 2008 and headquartered in Bethesda, Maryland, AGNC focuses exclusively on U.S.