89BIO (NASDAQ:ETNB) Sees Large Drop in Short Interest

Key Points

• 89BIO experienced a significant decline in short interest, dropping by 43.2% in September, leaving a total of 8,720,000 shares shorted as of September 30th.
• Analyst ratings have shown a downward trend for 89BIO, with Wolfe Research and Raymond James downgrading the stock while Bank of America reduced its target price from $30.00 to $29.00.
• The company's stock is currently trading at $14.81 with a market cap of $2.20 billion, having reported earnings of ($0.71) per share for the latest quarter.

89BIO (NASDAQ:ETNB - Get Free Report) was the target of a significant decline in short interest in the month of September. As of September 30th, there was short interest totaling 8,720,000 shares, a decline of 43.2% from the September 15th total of 15,360,000 shares. Based on an average daily trading volume, of 3,940,000 shares, the short-interest ratio is presently 2.2 days. Based on an average daily trading volume, of 3,940,000 shares, the short-interest ratio is presently 2.2 days.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities research analysts have recently commented on the stock. Wolfe Research downgraded shares of 89BIO from an "outperform" rating to a "peer perform" rating in a research note on Friday, September 19th. Raymond James Financial downgraded shares of 89BIO from a "strong-buy" rating to a "market perform" rating in a research report on Friday, September 19th. Bank of America decreased their target price on shares of 89BIO from $30.00 to $29.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research report on Monday, August 25th. HC Wainwright downgraded shares of 89BIO from a "buy" rating to a "neutral" rating and set a $14.50 target price for the company. in a research report on Friday, September 19th. Finally, Weiss Ratings restated a "sell (d-)" rating on shares of 89BIO in a research report on Wednesday, October 8th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, three have issued a Buy rating, five have issued a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $25.81.

89BIO Stock Performance

ETNB traded up $0.01 on Tuesday, reaching $14.81. The stock had a trading volume of 1,406,128 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,830,534. 89BIO has a 12-month low of $4.16 and a 12-month high of $15.06. The company has a current ratio of 15.19, a quick ratio of 15.19 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.07. The business's 50-day moving average price is $11.61 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $9.80. The company has a market cap of $2.20 billion, a P/E ratio of -4.10 and a beta of 1.27.

89BIO (NASDAQ:ETNB - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, August 7th. The company reported ($0.71) earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts' consensus estimates of ($0.49) by ($0.22). During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned ($0.48) EPS. Sell-side analysts forecast that 89BIO will post -3.19 earnings per share for the current year.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Woodline Partners LP increased its holdings in 89BIO by 77.5% in the first quarter. Woodline Partners LP now owns 700,754 shares of the company's stock valued at $5,094,000 after buying an additional 305,928 shares in the last quarter. Voya Investment Management LLC increased its holdings in 89BIO by 417.9% in the first quarter. Voya Investment Management LLC now owns 132,791 shares of the company's stock valued at $965,000 after buying an additional 107,151 shares in the last quarter. Jacobs Levy Equity Management Inc. purchased a new position in 89BIO in the first quarter valued at $719,000. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. increased its stake in shares of 89BIO by 23.3% during the first quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. now owns 995,449 shares of the company's stock worth $7,237,000 after purchasing an additional 188,367 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Rhumbline Advisers increased its stake in shares of 89BIO by 17.0% during the first quarter. Rhumbline Advisers now owns 152,138 shares of the company's stock worth $1,106,000 after purchasing an additional 22,158 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.

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