Dividend Investors, AGNC May Not Be What You Think It Is

Real estate investment trusts (REITs) are designed to pass income on to investors in a tax-advantaged manner. So it is understandable that dividend investors pay a lot of attention to REIT dividends and yields. But every REIT shouldn't be judged by its yield, and a perfect case in point is AGNC Investment (NASDAQ: AGNC), which has a huge 14.9% dividend yield. Here's why income investors need to tread carefully with AGNC Investment.Before getting into AGNC's business, it pays to simply look at the mortgage real estate investment trust's dividend history. As the chart below highlights very clearly, investors who were attracted to the lofty dividend yield on offer here have not added a reliable dividend stock to their portfolio. After a rapid increase in the size of the dividend (the orange line), it shifted gears and headed steadily lower.Continue readingWeiter zum vollständigen Artikel bei MotleyFool Weiter zum vollständigen Artikel bei MotleyFool