HC Wainwright Begins Coverage on Liquidia (NASDAQ:LQDA)

Key Points

• HC Wainwright initiated coverage with a Buy rating and a $76 price target, implying about 30.8% upside from Liquidia’s current share price.
• Analyst views remain mixed: MarketBeat reports an average Hold rating and a $75.23 consensus price target, with ratings ranging from Buy to Sell.
• Liquidia’s latest quarterly revenue rose 314.9% year over year to $225.3 million, topping estimates, while its reported loss per share missed consensus expectations.

Equities research analysts at HC Wainwright started coverage on shares of Liquidia (NASDAQ:LQDA - Get Free Report) in a note issued to investors on Friday, Benzinga reports. The brokerage set a "buy" rating and a $76.00 price target on the stock. HC Wainwright's target price suggests a potential upside of 30.76% from the company's current price.

Other analysts have also recently issued reports about the stock. Weiss Ratings upgraded shares of Liquidia from a "sell (d-)" rating to a "hold (c)" rating in a report on Tuesday, September 22nd. Lifesci Capital raised Liquidia from a "hold" rating to an "outperform" rating and set a $59.00 price target on the stock in a report on Wednesday, October 14th. Bank of America set a $54.00 price objective on Liquidia and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research report on Wednesday. Wedbush set a $58.00 price objective on Liquidia in a research note on Friday, October 2nd. Finally, BTIG Research raised their price objective on Liquidia from $70.00 to $87.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research note on Tuesday. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, five have given a Buy rating, four have issued a Hold rating and two have assigned a Sell rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Liquidia has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $75.23.

Liquidia Price Performance

Shares of Liquidia stock opened at $58.12 on Friday. Liquidia has a 52 week low of $22.31 and a 52 week high of $93.61. The company has a current ratio of 1.02, a quick ratio of 2.12 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.63. The company's 50-day moving average price is $49.19 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $54.68. The stock has a market cap of $5.24 billion, a PE ratio of 24.98, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.75 and a beta of 0.40.

Liquidia (NASDAQ:LQDA - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, November 10th. The company reported ($2.64) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.96 by ($3.60). Liquidia had a positive return on equity of 264.65% and a negative net margin of 15.15%. The business had revenue of $225.30 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $214.18 million. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned ($0.04) EPS. The business's revenue for the quarter was up 314.9% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that Liquidia will post 1.32 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity

In related news, Director Stephen M. Bloch sold 235,477 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, October 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $27.13, for a total transaction of $6,388,491.01. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, insider Rajeev Saggar sold 50,000 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, August 19th. The shares were sold at an average price of $74.06, for a total value of $3,703,000.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider owned 142,265 shares in the company, valued at $10,536,145.90. This trade represents a 26.01% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Insiders sold a total of 566,579 shares of company stock valued at $25,746,120 in the last three months. 25.60% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Liquidia

Hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company boosted its stake in shares of Liquidia by 63.3% during the 1st quarter. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company now owns 58,265 shares of the company's stock worth $2,199,000 after acquiring an additional 22,592 shares in the last quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp bought a new position in Liquidia in the 2nd quarter worth $29,694,000. Seven Fleet Capital Management LP raised its holdings in Liquidia by 25.2% in the 2nd quarter. Seven Fleet Capital Management LP now owns 256,603 shares of the company's stock worth $20,459,000 after acquiring an additional 51,727 shares during the period. VIRGINIA RETIREMENT SYSTEMS ET Al acquired a new position in Liquidia during the 2nd quarter worth $1,236,000. Finally, Bank of America Corp DE lifted its position in Liquidia by 18.7% during the 1st quarter. Bank of America Corp DE now owns 2,287,792 shares of the company's stock worth $86,341,000 after acquiring an additional 360,372 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 64.54% of the company's stock.

About Liquidia

Liquidia Corporation is a biopharmaceutical company focused on developing and commercializing treatments for pulmonary hypertension and other serious diseases. Its work includes inhaled therapies designed to deliver medicines to the lungs. The company's marketed product, Yutrepia (treprostinil) inhalation powder, is approved in the United States for adults with pulmonary arterial hypertension and pulmonary hypertension associated with interstitial lung disease. Liquidia also has a pipeline of investigational therapies, including other formulations of treprostinil.

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