AG Mortgage Investment Trust, Inc. (NYSE:MITT) Given Consensus Recommendation of "Moderate Buy" by Analysts

Key Points

• AG Mortgage Investment Trust, Inc. (NYSE:MITT) has received an average recommendation of "Moderate Buy" from five research firms, with four analysts rating it as a buy and one as a hold.
• The company recently declared a quarterly dividend of $0.21, an increase from the previous $0.20, reflecting an annualized yield of 11.8%.
• AG Mortgage Investment Trust reported earnings per share (EPS) of $0.18 for the last quarter, falling short of analyst estimates of $0.23.

AG Mortgage Investment Trust, Inc. (NYSE:MITT - Get Free Report) has earned a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" from the five research firms that are covering the firm, Marketbeat Ratings reports. One research analyst has rated the stock with a hold recommendation and four have issued a buy recommendation on the company. The average 1-year price target among analysts that have issued ratings on the stock in the last year is $8.45.

MITT has been the topic of several recent analyst reports. Piper Sandler set a $8.50 price target on shares of AG Mortgage Investment Trust and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research note on Monday. Wall Street Zen cut shares of AG Mortgage Investment Trust from a "hold" rating to a "sell" rating in a research report on Saturday, July 12th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods raised their price objective on shares of AG Mortgage Investment Trust from $8.25 to $8.50 and gave the stock a "market perform" rating in a research report on Thursday, July 10th. UBS Group lifted their price objective on AG Mortgage Investment Trust from $8.00 to $8.75 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a report on Thursday, July 10th. Finally, Jones Trading reaffirmed a "buy" rating and set a $8.00 price target on shares of AG Mortgage Investment Trust in a research note on Friday, August 1st.

AG Mortgage Investment Trust Trading Up 0.4%

AG Mortgage Investment Trust stock traded up $0.03 during mid-day trading on Monday, hitting $7.38. The company had a trading volume of 39,639 shares, compared to its average volume of 225,970. The company has a market capitalization of $234.18 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of 8.59 and a beta of 1.62. The company's fifty day moving average is $7.53 and its 200-day moving average is $7.15. AG Mortgage Investment Trust has a 12-month low of $5.63 and a 12-month high of $7.95.

AG Mortgage Investment Trust (NYSE:MITT - Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results on Friday, August 1st. The real estate investment trust reported $0.18 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts' consensus estimates of $0.23 by ($0.05). AG Mortgage Investment Trust had a net margin of 10.70% and a return on equity of 13.21%. The company had revenue of $21.30 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $21.04 million. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that AG Mortgage Investment Trust will post 0.78 EPS for the current fiscal year.

AG Mortgage Investment Trust Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, July 31st. Investors of record on Monday, June 30th were given a $0.21 dividend. This is an increase from AG Mortgage Investment Trust's previous quarterly dividend of $0.20. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, June 30th. This represents a $0.84 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 11.4%. AG Mortgage Investment Trust's dividend payout ratio is 97.67%.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On AG Mortgage Investment Trust

Large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Prudential Financial Inc. raised its stake in shares of AG Mortgage Investment Trust by 509.1% in the 4th quarter. Prudential Financial Inc. now owns 91,047 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock valued at $605,000 after purchasing an additional 76,100 shares in the last quarter. Raymond James Financial Inc. acquired a new position in AG Mortgage Investment Trust in the fourth quarter worth $751,000. Northern Trust Corp increased its stake in AG Mortgage Investment Trust by 10.2% during the fourth quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 278,109 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock valued at $1,849,000 after purchasing an additional 25,736 shares during the last quarter. D. E. Shaw & Co. Inc. bought a new position in shares of AG Mortgage Investment Trust in the 4th quarter worth about $70,000. Finally, Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD boosted its holdings in shares of AG Mortgage Investment Trust by 4.7% in the 4th quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 45,790 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock valued at $305,000 after buying an additional 2,047 shares during the period. 27.32% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.