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

Key Points

• 89BIO's stock has been given a "sell (D-)" rating by Weiss Ratings, which has been reiterated by analysts.
• Recent price targets for the stock have been adjusted downwards by various analysts, with Royal Bank of Canada lowering its target from $12.00 to $11.00.
• The company reported a quarterly loss of ($0.71) earnings per share, missing expectations and indicating challenges in its financial performance.

89BIO (NASDAQ:ETNB - Get Free Report)'s stock had its "sell (d-)" rating restated by analysts at Weiss Ratings in a research note issued on Saturday, September 13th,Weiss Ratings reports.

ETNB has been the subject of a number of other research reports. Bank of America dropped their price objective on 89BIO from $30.00 to $29.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a report on Monday, August 25th. Royal Bank Of Canada dropped their price objective on 89BIO from $12.00 to $11.00 and set a "sector perform" rating for the company in a report on Friday, August 8th. Finally, HC Wainwright started coverage on 89BIO in a report on Thursday, September 4th. They set a "buy" rating and a $32.00 price objective for the company. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, three have assigned a Buy rating and five have given a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $25.81.

89BIO Trading Down 0.6%

Shares of 89BIO stock traded down $0.09 on Friday, reaching $14.87. The company had a trading volume of 27,325,726 shares, compared to its average volume of 5,502,041. The firm has a market cap of $2.21 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -4.12 and a beta of 1.27. 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 firm's 50-day moving average price is $9.51 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $8.79. 89BIO has a 1 year low of $4.16 and a 1 year high of $15.06.

89BIO (NASDAQ:ETNB - Get Free Report) last posted 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). During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted ($0.48) earnings per share. As a group, research analysts predict that 89BIO will post -3.19 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity at 89BIO

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

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Large investors have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. KBC Group NV bought a new position in shares of 89BIO in the 2nd quarter worth $55,000. CWM LLC grew its stake in 89BIO by 9,265.1% during the 1st quarter. CWM LLC now owns 5,900 shares of the company's stock worth $43,000 after buying an additional 5,837 shares during the last quarter. Osaic Holdings Inc. grew its stake in 89BIO by 25.9% during the 2nd quarter. Osaic Holdings Inc. now owns 6,463 shares of the company's stock worth $63,000 after buying an additional 1,330 shares during the last quarter. AlphaQuest LLC grew its stake in 89BIO by 213.8% during the 2nd quarter. AlphaQuest LLC now owns 6,614 shares of the company's stock worth $65,000 after buying an additional 4,506 shares during the last quarter. Finally, GAMMA Investing LLC grew its stake in 89BIO by 4,898.7% during the 1st quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 7,648 shares of the company's stock worth $56,000 after buying an additional 7,495 shares during 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.