Agenus (NASDAQ:AGEN) Stock Rating Upgraded by Wall Street Zen

Key Points

• Wall Street Zen upgraded Agenus from “hold” to “buy,” while analyst sentiment remains mixed; the consensus rating is still “Hold” with a $22 price target.
• B. Riley raised its price target to $14, and HC Wainwright increased its target to $30, though Weiss Ratings maintained a sell rating and Zacks Research downgraded the stock to “hold.”
• Agenus shares opened at $7.50, near their one-year high of $8.70, but the company missed quarterly earnings and revenue estimates, reporting $1.02 in EPS versus $2.10 expected and $33.74 million in revenue versus $129.50 million forecast.

Agenus (NASDAQ:AGEN - Get Free Report) was upgraded by stock analysts at Wall Street Zen from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a research note issued to investors on Saturday.

Several other equities research analysts also recently weighed in on the stock. Weiss Ratings reissued a "sell (d)" rating on shares of Agenus in a research note on Tuesday, June 16th. B. Riley Financial reissued a "buy" rating and issued a $14.00 price objective (up from $8.00) on shares of Agenus in a research report on Thursday. Zacks Research lowered Agenus from a "strong-buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Monday, May 11th. Finally, HC Wainwright upped their target price on Agenus from $23.00 to $30.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Monday, July 13th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, one has issued a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Agenus has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $22.00.

Agenus Stock Performance

Shares of Agenus stock opened at $7.50 on Friday. The stock has a market cap of $335.64 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of 4.72 and a beta of 1.55. The stock has a 50 day moving average price of $4.04 and a 200-day moving average price of $3.69. Agenus has a one year low of $2.71 and a one year high of $8.70.

Agenus (NASDAQ:AGEN - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results on Monday, May 11th. The biotechnology company reported $1.02 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $2.10 by ($1.08). The company had revenue of $33.74 million for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $129.50 million. Agenus had a net margin of 50.49% and a negative return on equity of 31.66%. Sell-side analysts predict that Agenus will post -0.22 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. LPL Financial LLC raised its position in shares of Agenus by 20.3% in the 4th quarter. LPL Financial LLC now owns 23,326 shares of the biotechnology company's stock worth $73,000 after acquiring an additional 3,943 shares in the last quarter. EP Wealth Advisors LLC bought a new stake in Agenus during the fourth quarter valued at about $31,000. Jump Financial LLC bought a new stake in Agenus during the second quarter valued at about $55,000. R Squared Ltd purchased a new position in Agenus in the fourth quarter valued at about $41,000. Finally, Squarepoint Ops LLC purchased a new position in Agenus in the third quarter valued at about $54,000. 61.46% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

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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