Key Points
AGNC Investment (NASDAQ:AGNC) invests in residential mortgages. The interest income from those investments covers its 15%-yielding monthly dividend ($0.12 each month). At that rate, you’d need to accumulate 17,783 shares — a $170,717 investment at its recent $9.60 share price — to cover the average monthly mortgage payment of $2,134 (according to Bankrate).
Here’s how to figure out how many shares you’d need to own of the mortgage REIT to cover your mortgage payment, and some risks to consider before accumulating shares.
Missed Nvidia in 2009? This Rare Signal Is Flashing Again. In 2009, a “Double Down” signal flashed for a little-known chipmaker called Nvidia. For the first time in years, that same “Total Conviction” signal is flashing for a company 1/100th the size of Nvidia. Continue »
Image source: Getty Images.
The math and the risks
The formula for reaching a specific dividend income goal is simple. You divide the desired amount by the investment’s current income to determine the number of shares, then multiply that by the current price to get the total investment requirement.
Using our example, we’d divided $2,134 (the monthly mortgage payment) by $0.12 (AGNC’s monthly dividend payment), which equals 17,783 shares. Multiply those shares by AGNC’s current price ($9.60), and we get the total investment requirement of $170,717. To determine what you’d need to cover your mortgage, just plug that number in and use AGNC’s current share price when you run the calculation to determine what you’d need to invest.
Now, the caveats. Most of us don’t have over $170,000 lying around; otherwise, we’d probably pay down our mortgages by that amount to lower our monthly payment. Further, there are tax implications to consider, as you’d pay taxes on the income received from AGNC, meaning you’d need to invest even more to cover the taxes. Finally, while AGNC has maintained its monthly dividend since early 2020, the REIT has cut its payment several times in the past. So, you can’t really bank on receiving the same income each month for the life of your mortgage. It would also be unwise to allocate a significant portion of your available funds into any investment, let alone one as risky as AGNC. Still, it’s a fun exercise, and you can build a more diversified portfolio that includes AGNC to generate income to cover some of your mortgage payments.
Should you buy stock in AGNC Investment Corp. right now?
Before you buy stock in AGNC Investment Corp., consider this:
The Motley Fool Stock Advisor analyst team just identified what they believe are the 10 best stocks for investors to buy now… and AGNC Investment Corp. wasn’t one of them. The 10 stocks that made the cut could produce monster returns in the coming years.
Consider when Netflix made this list on December 17, 2004… if you invested $1,000 at the time of our recommendation, you’d have $383,680!* Or when Nvidia made this list on April 15, 2005… if you invested $1,000 at the time of our recommendation, you’d have $1,382,954!*
Now, it’s worth noting Stock Advisor’s total average return is 937% — a market-crushing outperformance compared to 214% for the S&P 500. Don’t miss the latest top 10 list, available with Stock Advisor, and join an investing community built by individual investors for individual investors.
*Stock Advisor returns as of September 26, 2026.
Matt DiLallo has no position in any of the stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool has no position in any of the stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy.
