Amphastar Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:AMPH) Upgraded by Zacks Research to "Hold" Rating

Key Points

• Zacks Research upgraded Amphastar Pharmaceuticals from a “strong sell” to a “hold” rating, adding to a mixed but still cautious analyst outlook on the stock.
• Other firms have recently lowered expectations, including Bank of America, Barclays, Piper Sandler, and Jefferies, with the consensus rating currently sitting at “Reduce” and an average price target of $22.
• Amphastar’s latest earnings missed estimates, reporting $0.42 EPS versus $0.70 expected, while shares recently traded around $19.30, near their 50-day average and below the 200-day average.

Amphastar Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:AMPH - Get Free Report) was upgraded by Zacks Research from a "strong sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note issued on Tuesday,Zacks.com reports.

Several other brokerages also recently issued reports on AMPH. Bank of America reissued an "underperform" rating and set a $20.00 price objective (down from $25.00) on shares of Amphastar Pharmaceuticals in a research report on Monday, June 29th. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a "sell (d+)" rating on shares of Amphastar Pharmaceuticals in a research note on Wednesday, July 8th. Barclays lowered their target price on Amphastar Pharmaceuticals from $23.00 to $20.00 and set an "equal weight" rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, June 3rd. Piper Sandler reissued a "neutral" rating and issued a $21.00 price target (down from $25.00) on shares of Amphastar Pharmaceuticals in a research note on Monday, May 11th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group restated a "hold" rating and issued a $22.00 price target (down from $30.00) on shares of Amphastar Pharmaceuticals in a report on Tuesday, April 21st. Six equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Hold rating and two have assigned a Sell rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of "Reduce" and an average target price of $22.00.

Amphastar Pharmaceuticals Price Performance

Shares of AMPH opened at $19.30 on Tuesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.79, a quick ratio of 2.82 and a current ratio of 3.85. The stock has a 50 day simple moving average of $19.26 and a 200 day simple moving average of $21.99. Amphastar Pharmaceuticals has a 52-week low of $16.65 and a 52-week high of $31.26. The firm has a market capitalization of $850.94 million, a PE ratio of 11.63, a P/E/G ratio of 3.85 and a beta of 0.89.

Amphastar Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:AMPH - Get Free Report) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, May 7th. The company reported $0.42 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.70 by ($0.28). Amphastar Pharmaceuticals had a return on equity of 15.12% and a net margin of 11.00%.The company had revenue of $171.17 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $173.46 million. Sell-side analysts predict that Amphastar Pharmaceuticals will post 2.41 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Institutional Trading of Amphastar Pharmaceuticals

A number of institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the business. Pacer Advisors Inc. grew its position in Amphastar Pharmaceuticals by 47.1% in the first quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. now owns 261,483 shares of the company's stock valued at $5,122,000 after purchasing an additional 83,739 shares in the last quarter. Segall Bryant & Hamill LLC lifted its position in Amphastar Pharmaceuticals by 197.9% during the 1st quarter. Segall Bryant & Hamill LLC now owns 33,318 shares of the company's stock worth $653,000 after buying an additional 22,133 shares in the last quarter. Bank of America Corp DE lifted its position in Amphastar Pharmaceuticals by 36.0% during the 1st quarter. Bank of America Corp DE now owns 174,323 shares of the company's stock worth $3,415,000 after buying an additional 46,149 shares in the last quarter. Empowered Funds LLC lifted its position in Amphastar Pharmaceuticals by 9.3% during the 1st quarter. Empowered Funds LLC now owns 181,332 shares of the company's stock worth $3,552,000 after buying an additional 15,425 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Rice Hall James & Associates LLC boosted its stake in shares of Amphastar Pharmaceuticals by 54.6% during the 1st quarter. Rice Hall James & Associates LLC now owns 187,348 shares of the company's stock worth $3,670,000 after buying an additional 66,172 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 65.09% of the company's stock.

Amphastar Pharmaceuticals Company Profile

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.

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