HC Wainwright Reiterates “Buy” Rating for 89bio (NASDAQ:ETNB)

89bio (NASDAQ:ETNB)‘s stock had its “buy” rating reaffirmed by equities researchers at HC Wainwright in a note issued to investors on Friday,Benzinga reports. They currently have a $21.00 price objective on the stock, down from their prior price objective of $29.00. HC Wainwright’s price objective would suggest a potential upside of 130.14% from the company’s current price.

A number of other research firms have also recently issued reports on ETNB. UBS Group raised their price target on shares of 89bio from $25.00 to $38.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, January 31st. Raymond James upgraded shares of 89bio to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, December 12th. Cantor Fitzgerald reaffirmed an “overweight” rating and set a $29.00 price objective on shares of 89bio in a report on Thursday, January 2nd. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “sell (d-)” rating on shares of 89bio in a report on Wednesday, February 19th. Finally, Wolfe Research initiated coverage on shares of 89bio in a research note on Tuesday, February 4th. They issued an “outperform” rating on the stock. Two analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, six have assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, 89bio currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $30.29.

89bio Stock Performance

ETNB traded down $0.20 during trading on Friday, hitting $9.13. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 883,270 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,592,728. The firm has a market cap of $968.40 million, a PE ratio of -3.10 and a beta of 1.17. 89bio has a one year low of $5.99 and a one year high of $16.63. The business’s 50 day simple moving average is $8.72 and its 200-day simple moving average is $8.46. The company has a quick ratio of 11.66, a current ratio of 11.66 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.09.

89bio (NASDAQ:ETNB) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, March 6th. The company reported ($1.02) EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of ($0.60) by ($0.42). As a group, sell-side analysts predict that 89bio will post -3.19 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Transactions at 89bio

In related news, Director Ra Capital Management, L.P. acquired 5,714,285 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, January 30th. The shares were acquired at an average cost of $8.75 per share, for a total transaction of $49,999,993.75. Following the acquisition, the director now directly owns 19,554,319 shares in the company, valued at approximately $171,100,291.25. The trade was a 41.29 % increase in their position. The acquisition was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, insider Quoc Le-Nguyen sold 10,963 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, January 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $6.49, for a total transaction of $71,149.87. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 271,833 shares in the company, valued at $1,764,196.17. The trade was a 3.88 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have purchased a total of 5,734,285 shares of company stock valued at $50,152,194 in the last ninety days. 2.80% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On 89bio

A number of hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in ETNB. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. grew its holdings in 89bio by 2.3% during the fourth quarter. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. now owns 51,154 shares of the company’s stock worth $400,000 after acquiring an additional 1,169 shares during the period. Victory Capital Management Inc. boosted its position in 89bio by 11.5% during the 4th quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. now owns 13,969 shares of the company’s stock worth $109,000 after acquiring an additional 1,437 shares during the period. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC boosted its position in 89bio by 1.2% during the 3rd quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC now owns 140,998 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,043,000 after acquiring an additional 1,624 shares during the period. Sandia Investment Management LP lifted its holdings in shares of 89bio by 28.5% during the 4th quarter. Sandia Investment Management LP now owns 11,286 shares of the company’s stock valued at $88,000 after buying an additional 2,500 shares during the last quarter. Finally, New York State Common Retirement Fund raised its stake in shares of 89bio by 24.3% in the 4th quarter. New York State Common Retirement Fund now owns 16,367 shares of the company’s stock valued at $128,000 after acquiring an additional 3,200 shares in the last quarter.

About 89bio

89bio, Inc, a clinical-stage biopharmaceutical company, focuses on the development and commercialization of therapies for the treatment of liver and cardio-metabolic diseases. Its lead product candidate is pegozafermin, a glycoPEGylated analog of fibroblast growth factor 21 for the treatment of nonalcoholic steatohepatitis; and for the treatment of severe hypertriglyceridemia.