Comparing AGNC Investment (NASDAQ:AGNCP) and AG Mortgage Investment Trust (NYSE:MITT)

AGNC Investment (NASDAQ:AGNCP) and AG Mortgage Investment Trust (NYSE:MITT) are both finance companies, but which is the better investment? We will compare the two businesses based on the strength of their earnings, dividends, valuation, profitability, institutional ownership, risk and analyst recommendations.

Institutional & Insider Ownership

27.3% of AG Mortgage Investment Trust shares are owned by institutional investors. 3.3% of AG Mortgage Investment Trust shares are owned by company insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that endowments, large money managers and hedge funds believe a stock will outperform the market over the long term.

Valuation and Earnings

This table compares AGNC Investment and AG Mortgage Investment Trust”s top-line revenue, earnings per share and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
AGNC Investment	$1.60 billion	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A
AG Mortgage Investment Trust	$480.33 million	0.46	$48.67 million	$0.40	17.51

AG Mortgage Investment Trust has lower revenue, but higher earnings than AGNC Investment.

Dividends

AGNC Investment pays an annual dividend of $1.53 per share and has a dividend yield of 6.1%. AG Mortgage Investment Trust pays an annual dividend of $0.96 per share and has a dividend yield of 13.7%. AG Mortgage Investment Trust pays out 240.0% of its earnings in the form of a dividend, suggesting it may not have sufficient earnings to cover its dividend payment in the future. AG Mortgage Investment Trust has increased its dividend for 2 consecutive years. AG Mortgage Investment Trust is clearly the better dividend stock, given its higher yield and longer track record of dividend growth.

Analyst Recommendations

This is a breakdown of current ratings and target prices for AGNC Investment and AG Mortgage Investment Trust, as reported by MarketBeat.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
AGNC Investment	0	0	0	0	0.00
AG Mortgage Investment Trust	0	3	6	0	2.67

AG Mortgage Investment Trust has a consensus target price of $9.07, indicating a potential upside of 29.50%. Given AG Mortgage Investment Trust’s stronger consensus rating and higher probable upside, analysts plainly believe AG Mortgage Investment Trust is more favorable than AGNC Investment.

Profitability

This table compares AGNC Investment and AG Mortgage Investment Trust’s net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
AGNC Investment	N/A	N/A	N/A
AG Mortgage Investment Trust	6.71%	15.02%	0.59%

Summary

AG Mortgage Investment Trust beats AGNC Investment on 10 of the 12 factors compared between the two stocks.

About AGNC Investment

AGNC Investment Corp. provides private capital to housing market in the United States. It invests in residential mortgage pass-through securities and collateralized mortgage obligations for which the principal and interest payments are guaranteed by the United States government-sponsored enterprise or by the United States government agency. The company qualifies as a real estate investment trust for federal income tax purposes. It generally would not be subject to federal corporate income taxes if it distributes at least 90% of its taxable income to its stockholders. The company was formerly known as American Capital Agency Corp. and changed its name to AGNC Investment Corp. in September 2016. AGNC Investment Corp. was incorporated in 2008 and is headquartered in Bethesda, Maryland.

About AG Mortgage Investment Trust

AG Mortgage Investment Trust, Inc. operates as a residential mortgage real estate investment trust in the United States. Its investment portfolio includes residential investments, including non-agency loans, agency-eligible loans, re-and non-performing loans, and non-agency residential mortgage-backed securities, as well as commercial loans and commercial mortgage-backed securities. The company qualifies as a real estate investment trust for federal income tax purposes. It generally would not be subject to federal corporate income taxes if it distributes at least 90% of its taxable income to its stockholders. AG Mortgage Investment Trust, Inc. was incorporated in 2011 and is based in New York, New York.