Weiss Ratings Reiterates Sell (D-) Rating for 89BIO (NASDAQ:ETNB)

Key Points

• The stock of 89BIO (ETNB) has received a "sell (D-)" rating from Weiss Ratings, indicating cautious sentiment from equities researchers.
• While Weiss Ratings remains skeptical, Cantor Fitzgerald has raised its rating to "strong buy," reflecting a wide range of analyst opinions on the stock, which currently has an average rating of "buy."
• 89BIO's shares opened at $9.22, with a market capitalization of $1.35 billion and a price-to-earnings ratio of -2.73, highlighting its ongoing challenges despite recent earnings surpassing analysts' expectations.

Weiss Ratings reiterated their sell (d-) rating on shares of 89BIO (NASDAQ:ETNB - Free Report) in a research note released on Tuesday,Weiss Ratings reports.

Separately, Cantor Fitzgerald upgraded 89BIO to a "strong-buy" rating in a report on Wednesday, April 30th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, four have assigned a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of "Buy" and an average price target of $26.43.

89BIO Price Performance

NASDAQ ETNB traded down $0.34 during trading on Tuesday, hitting $9.16. 1,108,481 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 1,215,390. The company has a market capitalization of $1.34 billion, a P/E ratio of -2.71 and a beta of 1.28. The firm has a 50-day simple moving average of $10.02 and a 200-day simple moving average of $8.80. The company has a quick ratio of 18.03, a current ratio of 18.03 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.06. 89BIO has a 12-month low of $4.16 and a 12-month high of $11.84.

89BIO (NASDAQ:ETNB - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, May 1st. The company reported ($0.49) earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of ($0.50) by $0.01. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted ($0.54) EPS. As a group, analysts predict that 89BIO will post -3.19 EPS for the current year.

Insider Activity

In related news, insider Quoc Le-Nguyen sold 10,461 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, July 15th. The stock was 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 of the company's stock, valued at approximately $3,409,191.28. This trade represents a 3.27% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Corporate insiders own 2.60% of the company's stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On 89BIO

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the business. Jennison Associates LLC bought a new stake in shares of 89BIO during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $2,300,000. Y Intercept Hong Kong Ltd bought a new stake in shares of 89BIO during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $176,000. AlphaQuest LLC lifted its stake in shares of 89BIO by 213.8% during the 2nd quarter. AlphaQuest LLC now owns 6,614 shares of the company's stock worth $65,000 after acquiring an additional 4,506 shares during the last quarter. VIRGINIA RETIREMENT SYSTEMS ET Al bought a new stake in 89BIO during the 2nd quarter valued at $549,000. Finally, Allianz Asset Management GmbH raised its position in 89BIO by 376.6% during the 2nd quarter. Allianz Asset Management GmbH now owns 61,000 shares of the company's stock valued at $599,000 after purchasing an additional 48,200 shares in the last quarter.

89BIO Company Profile

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.