Assertio Holdings, Inc. (NASDAQ:ASRT) Short Interest Up 24.8% in March

Key Points

• Short interest up 24.8% — as of March 31 short interest rose to 301,837 shares, about 4.9% of the stock, with a days-to-cover of 1.4 based on average daily volume.
• Analyst sentiment has turned cautious: one Buy, four Hold and one Sell give an average rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $18 after several downgrades (HC Wainwright cut its target from $35 to $18).
• Recent results show a mixed operational picture: Assertio reported a Q loss of ($1.86) beating estimates with $13.54M revenue, but has negative net margin (~25.6%), a market cap of about $116M, and a 52-week range of $8.55–$20.45.

Assertio Holdings, Inc. (NASDAQ:ASRT - Get Free Report) was the recipient of a large growth in short interest in March. As of March 31st, there was short interest totaling 301,837 shares, a growth of 24.8% from the March 15th total of 241,932 shares. Approximately 4.9% of the shares of the stock are sold short. Based on an average daily trading volume, of 217,451 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is presently 1.4 days.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

ASRT has been the topic of a number of research reports. HC Wainwright reissued a "neutral" rating and issued a $18.00 target price (down from $35.00) on shares of Assertio in a research note on Thursday, April 9th. Weiss Ratings reissued a "sell (d-)" rating on shares of Assertio in a research note on Wednesday, January 21st. Maxim Group lowered shares of Assertio from a "strong-buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Thursday, April 9th. Wall Street Zen lowered shares of Assertio from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Saturday, March 21st. Finally, Zacks Research lowered shares of Assertio from a "strong-buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Friday, March 6th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Buy rating, four have given a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $18.00.

Assertio Price Performance

Assertio stock opened at $18.02 on Thursday. Assertio has a fifty-two week low of $8.55 and a fifty-two week high of $20.45. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.42, a quick ratio of 1.51 and a current ratio of 1.70. The firm has a 50 day moving average price of $14.33 and a 200 day moving average price of $12.48. The company has a market capitalization of $116.23 million, a PE ratio of -3.71 and a beta of 0.43.

Assertio (NASDAQ:ASRT - Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results on Monday, March 16th. The company reported ($1.86) earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of ($3.05) by $1.19. Assertio had a negative net margin of 25.59% and a negative return on equity of 30.26%. The firm had revenue of $13.54 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $6.20 million. Research analysts expect that Assertio will post -0.15 earnings per share for the current year.

Institutional Trading of Assertio

Several institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Opaleye Management Inc. acquired a new stake in Assertio in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $2,585,000. Rothschild Wealth LLC acquired a new stake in Assertio in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $172,000. Edgewood Management LLC acquired a new stake in Assertio in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $975,000. Thurston Springer Miller Herd & Titak Inc. acquired a new stake in Assertio in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $41,000. Finally, Perritt Capital Management Inc increased its holdings in Assertio by 51.6% in the 3rd quarter. Perritt Capital Management Inc now owns 350,316 shares of the company's stock valued at $309,000 after purchasing an additional 119,281 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 48.96% of the company's stock.

About Assertio

Assertio Therapeutics, Inc, formerly known as Depomed, is a specialty pharmaceutical company focused on the development and commercialization of therapies for central nervous system (CNS) disorders, including neuropathic pain, migraine and breakthrough cancer pain. The company's commercial portfolio includes three FDA-approved products—Qutenza (8% capsaicin) for postherpetic neuralgia, Butrans (buprenorphine) transdermal system for chronic pain and Onsolis (fentanyl buccal soluble film) for breakthrough cancer pain—which are marketed primarily in the United States under licensing agreements with global partners.

In addition to its marketed therapies, Assertio maintains a pipeline of preclinical and clinical-stage candidates targeting a range of pain and neurological conditions.

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