89BIO (NASDAQ:ETNB) Now Covered by Analysts at HC Wainwright

Key Points

• HC Wainwright initiated coverage on 89BIO with a "buy" rating and a price target of $32.00, suggesting a potential upside of 258.62% from its previous close.
• 89BIO's stock has a market capitalization of $1.32 billion and reported a loss of ($0.71) EPS for its last quarterly earnings, missing expectations.
• Institutional investors have shown significant interest in 89BIO, with Tower Research Capital raising its stake by 338.6% and Holocene Advisors acquiring a new stake valued at approximately $30 million during the second quarter.

HC Wainwright began coverage on shares of 89BIO (NASDAQ:ETNB - Get Free Report) in a note issued to investors on Thursday, MarketBeat.com reports. The brokerage set a "buy" rating and a $32.00 price target on the stock. HC Wainwright's price objective suggests a potential upside of 272.87% from the stock's previous close.

Several other brokerages have also recently issued reports on ETNB. Bank of America lowered their price target on 89BIO from $30.00 to $29.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, August 25th. Royal Bank Of Canada cut their price target on 89BIO from $12.00 to $11.00 and set a "sector perform" rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, August 8th. Finally, Weiss Ratings restated a "sell (d-)" rating on shares of 89BIO in a report on Saturday, August 30th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, five have given a Buy rating and two have issued a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of "Buy" and a consensus target price of $28.00.

89BIO Trading Up 0.1%

Shares of NASDAQ:ETNB traded up $0.01 on Thursday, hitting $8.58. 268,692 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 2,026,553. The business's 50 day simple moving average is $9.61 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $8.75. 89BIO has a 12 month low of $4.16 and a 12 month high of $11.84. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.07, a current ratio of 15.19 and a quick ratio of 15.19. The stock has a market capitalization of $1.27 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -2.38 and a beta of 1.27.

89BIO (NASDAQ:ETNB - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, August 7th. The company reported ($0.71) EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of ($0.49) by ($0.22). During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted ($0.48) earnings per share. Analysts anticipate that 89BIO will post -3.19 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity

In related news, insider Quoc Le-Nguyen sold 10,461 shares of 89BIO stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, July 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $11.02, for a total value of $115,280.22. Following the completion of the sale, the insider directly owned 309,364 shares in the company, valued at $3,409,191.28. This trade represents a 3.27% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. 2.80% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On 89BIO

Several large investors have recently modified their holdings of ETNB. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. increased its position in 89BIO by 2.3% during the 4th quarter. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. now owns 51,154 shares of the company's stock worth $400,000 after purchasing an additional 1,169 shares in the last quarter. Osaic Holdings Inc. grew its holdings in 89BIO by 25.9% in the 2nd quarter. Osaic Holdings Inc. now owns 6,463 shares of the company's stock valued at $63,000 after buying an additional 1,330 shares during the last quarter. Ameritas Investment Partners Inc. boosted its stake in 89BIO by 12.6% in the 2nd quarter. Ameritas Investment Partners Inc. now owns 12,743 shares of the company's stock valued at $125,000 after buying an additional 1,422 shares in the last quarter. Comerica Bank raised its position in shares of 89BIO by 0.6% during the first quarter. Comerica Bank now owns 258,123 shares of the company's stock worth $1,877,000 after acquiring an additional 1,540 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Algert Global LLC increased its holdings in shares of 89BIO by 0.9% in the first quarter. Algert Global LLC now owns 186,991 shares of the company's stock worth $1,359,000 after acquiring an additional 1,584 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.