Agenus (NASDAQ:AGEN) Raised to "Strong-Buy" at Wall Street Zen

Key Points

• Wall Street Zen upgraded Agenus to “strong-buy” from “buy,” while other analyst opinions remained mixed. MarketBeat reports a consensus “hold” rating and an average price target of $22.
• Agenus shares were trading down 7.1% at $6.96, despite remaining above their 50-day and 200-day moving averages. The company’s latest quarterly revenue slightly exceeded estimates, but its adjusted loss of $0.01 per share missed the consensus estimate of $0.05 in earnings.
• Institutional investors and hedge funds own approximately 61.46% of Agenus, with several firms recently initiating or increasing positions, including Bank of America, which boosted its stake by 796.7%.

Agenus (NASDAQ:AGEN - Get Free Report) was upgraded by analysts at Wall Street Zen from a "buy" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a report issued on Sunday.

Several other research analysts have also issued reports on the stock. Weiss Ratings upgraded shares of Agenus from a "sell (d)" rating to a "sell (d+)" rating in a report on Friday. B. Riley Financial reiterated a "buy" rating and set a $14.00 price objective (up from $8.00) on shares of Agenus in a research report on Thursday, July 30th. HC Wainwright lifted their target price on shares of Agenus from $23.00 to $30.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research note on Monday, July 13th. Finally, Zacks Research lowered shares of Agenus from a "strong-buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Monday, May 11th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, one has given a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $22.00.

Agenus Trading Down 7.1%

Shares of AGEN stock opened at $6.96 on Friday. Agenus has a 1-year low of $2.71 and a 1-year high of $8.85. The stock has a market cap of $311.46 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of 2.70 and a beta of 1.41. The stock has a 50-day moving average of $4.47 and a 200-day moving average of $3.81.

Agenus (NASDAQ:AGEN - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, August 6th. The biotechnology company reported ($0.01) EPS for the quarter, missing analysts' consensus estimates of $0.05 by ($0.06). Agenus had a negative return on equity of 31.66% and a net margin of 50.49%.The company had revenue of $34.50 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $34.00 million. Sell-side analysts forecast that Agenus will post -0.2 earnings per share for the current year.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Agenus

Several institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in AGEN. Bank of New York Mellon Corp bought a new stake in shares of Agenus in the 2nd quarter valued at $311,000. Bank of America Corp DE boosted its stake in Agenus by 796.7% during the first quarter. Bank of America Corp DE now owns 118,782 shares of the biotechnology company's stock worth $397,000 after acquiring an additional 105,536 shares in the last quarter. Redwood Family Wealth LLC acquired a new stake in Agenus in the fourth quarter worth $44,000. Ovata Capital Management Ltd acquired a new stake in Agenus in the fourth quarter worth $97,000. Finally, Virtu Financial LLC bought a new stake in Agenus in the fourth quarter valued at $108,000. 61.46% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

About Agenus

Agenus, Inc NASDAQ: AGEN is a clinical-stage immuno-oncology company headquartered in Lexington, Massachusetts. The company focuses on the discovery and development of therapies designed to modulate the immune system's response to cancer. Leveraging proprietary platforms in checkpoint modulation, vaccine technology and adjuvant systems, Agenus aims to deliver combination regimens that enhance antitumor activity across a variety of solid tumors and hematological malignancies.

Agenus' pipeline includes monoclonal antibodies targeting immune checkpoints, cytokine-based therapeutics and vaccine candidates built on its engineered heat shock protein (HSP) platform.

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