AG Mortgage Investment Trust, Inc. (NYSE:MITT) Given Consensus Rating of “Moderate Buy” by Brokerages

Shares of AG Mortgage Investment Trust, Inc. (NYSE:MITT) have earned a consensus recommendation of “Moderate Buy” from the eight analysts that are covering the firm, MarketBeat Ratings reports. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold recommendation and five have issued a buy recommendation on the company. The average 12-month target price among analysts that have covered the stock in the last year is $9.1667.

MITT has been the subject of several analyst reports. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods lowered their target price on AG Mortgage Investment Trust from $9.00 to $8.50 and set a “market perform” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, May 1st. JonesTrading boosted their target price on AG Mortgage Investment Trust from $8.50 to $9.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, February 17th. Finally, Weiss Ratings reissued a “hold (c)” rating on shares of AG Mortgage Investment Trust in a research note on Friday, April 17th.

AG Mortgage Investment Trust Trading Down 0.2%

MITT opened at $7.69 on Friday. AG Mortgage Investment Trust has a 12 month low of $6.86 and a 12 month high of $9.27. The stock has a market capitalization of $244.38 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of 19.21 and a beta of 1.63. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 23.76, a current ratio of 10.33 and a quick ratio of 10.33. The business has a fifty day moving average price of $7.73 and a 200 day moving average price of $8.13.

AG Mortgage Investment Trust (NYSE:MITT) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, April 29th. The real estate investment trust reported $0.26 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.25 by $0.01. AG Mortgage Investment Trust had a return on equity of 15.02% and a net margin of 6.71%.The firm had revenue of $6.47 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $21.97 million. Sell-side analysts expect that AG Mortgage Investment Trust will post 1.09 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

AG Mortgage Investment Trust Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, April 30th. Investors of record on Tuesday, March 31st were paid a dividend of $0.24 per share. This represents a $0.96 annualized dividend and a yield of 12.5%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, March 31st. This is a positive change from AG Mortgage Investment Trust’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.23. AG Mortgage Investment Trust’s payout ratio is presently 240.00%.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. BNP Paribas Financial Markets lifted its holdings in AG Mortgage Investment Trust by 103.7% during the 3rd quarter. BNP Paribas Financial Markets now owns 5,413 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $39,000 after buying an additional 2,756 shares during the last quarter. Strs Ohio purchased a new stake in AG Mortgage Investment Trust during the 1st quarter worth about $39,000. Kemnay Advisory Services Inc. purchased a new stake in AG Mortgage Investment Trust during the 4th quarter worth about $40,000. Russell Investments Group Ltd. lifted its holdings in AG Mortgage Investment Trust by 103.8% during the 3rd quarter. Russell Investments Group Ltd. now owns 7,095 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $51,000 after buying an additional 3,614 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Public Employees Retirement System of Ohio lifted its holdings in AG Mortgage Investment Trust by 258.4% during the 3rd quarter. Public Employees Retirement System of Ohio now owns 8,960 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $65,000 after buying an additional 6,460 shares during the last quarter. 27.32% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

About AG Mortgage Investment Trust

AG Mortgage Investment Trust, Inc is a publicly traded, closed-end management investment company that primarily focuses on investing in U.S. residential mortgage assets. The firm seeks to generate current income for its shareholders by acquiring a diversified portfolio of mortgage loans and mortgage-backed securities. As an externally managed mortgage real estate investment trust (REIT), AG Mortgage Investment Trust aims to deliver attractive risk-adjusted returns through active portfolio management and interest rate hedging strategies.

The company’s investment portfolio is concentrated in adjustable-rate residential mortgage loans, including so-called “jumbo” prime ARMs, as well as Agency and non-Agency residential mortgage-backed securities (RMBS).