Amphastar Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMPH) Given Average Rating of "Hold" by Brokerages

Key Points

• Analyst consensus: Eight brokers give Amphastar an average "Hold" rating (six holds, two buys) with a 1-year average target price of $29.50.
• Recent results and valuation: The company missed Q4 estimates, reporting $0.73 EPS vs. $0.97 expected and $183.11M revenue vs. $190.48M, while trading around $20.58 with a P/E of 10.14.
• Institutional ownership and flows: Institutions own about 65.09% of the stock, with significant fourth-quarter increases from Pacer Advisors and Invesco.

Amphastar Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMPH - Get Free Report) has been given an average recommendation of "Hold" by the eight ratings firms that are currently covering the stock, MarketBeat reports. Six investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and two have assigned a buy rating to the company. The average 1-year target price among brokers that have issued a report on the stock in the last year is $29.50.

Several equities research analysts have recently commented on the stock. Weiss Ratings reiterated a "hold (c-)" rating on shares of Amphastar Pharmaceuticals in a research note on Monday, December 29th. Wells Fargo & Company reduced their target price on shares of Amphastar Pharmaceuticals from $34.00 to $30.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a report on Friday, February 27th. Barclays started coverage on shares of Amphastar Pharmaceuticals in a report on Tuesday, December 9th. They set an "equal weight" rating and a $30.00 target price for the company. Finally, Needham & Company LLC reduced their target price on shares of Amphastar Pharmaceuticals from $34.00 to $30.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a report on Friday, February 27th.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the business. Pacer Advisors Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Amphastar Pharmaceuticals by 2,864.4% during the fourth quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. now owns 177,744 shares of the company's stock worth $4,760,000 after purchasing an additional 171,748 shares during the last quarter. Invesco Ltd. raised its holdings in shares of Amphastar Pharmaceuticals by 28.7% during the fourth quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 501,404 shares of the company's stock worth $13,428,000 after purchasing an additional 111,811 shares during the last quarter. Vident Advisory LLC raised its holdings in shares of Amphastar Pharmaceuticals by 10.7% during the fourth quarter. Vident Advisory LLC now owns 20,409 shares of the company's stock worth $547,000 after purchasing an additional 1,978 shares during the last quarter. Fuller & Thaler Asset Management Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Amphastar Pharmaceuticals by 3.0% during the fourth quarter. Fuller & Thaler Asset Management Inc. now owns 1,394,463 shares of the company's stock worth $37,344,000 after purchasing an additional 40,536 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Empowered Funds LLC raised its holdings in shares of Amphastar Pharmaceuticals by 10.8% during the fourth quarter. Empowered Funds LLC now owns 165,907 shares of the company's stock worth $4,443,000 after purchasing an additional 16,112 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 65.09% of the company's stock.

Amphastar Pharmaceuticals Stock Performance

NASDAQ:AMPH opened at $20.58 on Wednesday. Amphastar Pharmaceuticals has a 12 month low of $17.03 and a 12 month high of $31.26. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $23.29 and a 200-day simple moving average of $25.12. The company has a current ratio of 4.02, a quick ratio of 2.90 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.77. The company has a market capitalization of $933.71 million, a P/E ratio of 10.14, a PEG ratio of 1.71 and a beta of 0.92.

Amphastar Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:AMPH - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 26th. The company reported $0.73 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.97 by ($0.24). Amphastar Pharmaceuticals had a return on equity of 17.58% and a net margin of 13.63%.The company had revenue of $183.11 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $190.48 million. On average, equities research analysts anticipate that Amphastar Pharmaceuticals will post 3.49 earnings per share for the current year.

About Amphastar Pharmaceuticals

Amphastar Pharmaceuticals, Inc is a specialty pharmaceutical company headquartered in Rancho Cucamonga, California. Founded in 2004, Amphastar focuses on the development, manufacturing and commercialization of injectable and inhalation products. The company's manufacturing facilities in California produce both generic and proprietary formulations designed to address urgent and chronic medical conditions.

Amphastar's portfolio includes a range of injectable generics such as epinephrine, naloxone and lidocaine, serving hospital, emergency medical and retail pharmacy channels.

This instant news alert was generated by narrative science technology and financial data from MarketBeat in order to provide readers with the fastest reporting and unbiased coverage. Please send any questions or comments about this story to contact@marketbeat.com.