Is AGNC Investment a Millionaire Maker?

Investors have a bad habit of getting fixated on key statistics when examining stocks, often using one simple metric when a multivariate approach would be better. For example, AGNC Investment's (NASDAQ: AGNC) huge 14%-plus dividend yield might make income investors think they found a millionaire-maker stock. But digging in just a little will show that this isn't likely to be the case. Here's what you need to know before you buy AGNC Investment.

A 14%-plus dividend yield sounds incredible, and it is incredible, but in this case it is incredibly risky. As the chart below shows, mortgage real estate investment trust (REIT) AGNC Investment's dividend rose initially when it came public, but then started to fall. It has been falling for over a decade now. Notice, however, that the dividend yield -- the purple line -- has remained fairly high (often above 10%) even as the dividend -- the orange line -- has been falling.