If You Invested $10,000 in AGNC Investment 10 Years Ago, This Is How Much You Would Have Today

One of the first things dividend investors look at, invariably, is dividend yield. That makes sense, but yield alone doesn't always tell the entire story. And sometimes large dividend yields can lure you into an investment that isn't a good fit for your actual income needs. A review of what happened to $10,000 invested in AGNC Investment (NASDAQ: AGNC) over the past decade is a warning you need to keep in mind.

Ten years ago AGNC's dividend yield was hovering around 15%. That compared very favorably to the low-single-digit yield on offer from an S&P 500 index fund. Over the following decade, mortgage real estate investment trust (REIT) AGNC's yield bounced around a little, but it was always fairly large. The lowest point came in 2021 when the yield dropped into the 8% range. Most of that span, however, it was in the 10%-plus range. If you are an income-focused investor, AGNC's huge yield very likely put this stock on your radar screen.