89BIO (NASDAQ:ETNB) Announces Quarterly Earnings Results

Key Points

• 89BIO reported a quarterly loss of ($0.71) earnings per share, missing analysts' estimates by ($0.22).
• Insider Quoc Le-Nguyen sold 10,461 shares at an average price of $11.02, reducing their stake in the company by 3.27%.
• Despite the earnings miss, analysts maintain a positive outlook with an average rating of "Buy" and a target price of $26.29 per share.

89BIO (NASDAQ:ETNB - Get Free Report) announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, August 7th. The company reported ($0.71) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts' consensus estimates of ($0.49) by ($0.22), Zacks reports. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted ($0.48) earnings per share.

89BIO Stock Down 0.4%

Shares of 89BIO stock traded down $0.04 on Thursday, reaching $9.10. The company's stock had a trading volume of 1,551,073 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,513,232. The company has a market capitalization of $1.35 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -2.52 and a beta of 1.28. The firm's fifty day simple moving average is $9.92 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $8.95. 89BIO has a 52 week low of $4.16 and a 52 week high of $11.84. The company has a quick ratio of 18.03, a current ratio of 15.19 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.07.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

ETNB has been the subject of a number of recent research reports. Cantor Fitzgerald upgraded 89BIO to a "strong-buy" rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 30th. Royal Bank Of Canada lowered their price objective on 89BIO from $12.00 to $11.00 and set a "sector perform" rating for the company in a research note on Friday, August 8th. Finally, Weiss Ratings reiterated a "sell (d-)" rating on shares of 89BIO in a research note on Tuesday, July 29th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, four have assigned a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of "Buy" and a consensus target price of $26.29.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other 89BIO news, insider Quoc Le-Nguyen sold 10,461 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Tuesday, July 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $11.02, for a total transaction of $115,280.22. Following the completion of the sale, the insider directly owned 309,364 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,409,191.28. The trade was a 3.27% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Corporate insiders own 2.60% of the company's stock.

Institutional Trading of 89BIO

Large investors have recently modified their holdings of the company. Raymond James Financial Inc. grew its holdings in 89BIO by 49.5% during the second quarter. Raymond James Financial Inc. now owns 571,602 shares of the company's stock valued at $5,613,000 after purchasing an additional 189,311 shares during the period. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. grew its holdings in 89BIO by 23.3% during the first quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. now owns 995,449 shares of the company's stock valued at $7,237,000 after purchasing an additional 188,367 shares during the period. UBS AM A Distinct Business Unit of UBS Asset Management Americas LLC grew its holdings in 89BIO by 50.4% during the first quarter. UBS AM A Distinct Business Unit of UBS Asset Management Americas LLC now owns 268,798 shares of the company's stock valued at $1,954,000 after purchasing an additional 90,107 shares during the period. AQR Capital Management LLC bought a new stake in 89BIO during the first quarter valued at about $583,000. Finally, Invesco Ltd. grew its holdings in 89BIO by 31.1% during the second quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 151,696 shares of the company's stock valued at $1,490,000 after purchasing an additional 35,945 shares during the period.

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.