Craig Hallum Initiates Coverage on Spruce Biosciences (NASDAQ:SPRB)

Key Points

• Craig Hallum initiated coverage on Spruce Biosciences with a Buy rating and a $140 price target, implying about a 157.5% upside from the current price.
• Analyst consensus is a "Moderate Buy" (five Buys, two Holds, one Sell) with an average price target of $190.60.
• Shares trade near $54.37 with a market cap of roughly $74.5M; the company reported a quarterly EPS of -$9.58 and is forecast to post -31.02 EPS for the year, while institutional investors own about 91.7% of the stock.

Equities researchers at Craig Hallum began coverage on shares of Spruce Biosciences (NASDAQ:SPRB - Get Free Report) in a research report issued to clients and investors on Monday. The firm set a "buy" rating and a $140.00 price target on the stock. Craig Hallum's target price suggests a potential upside of 157.49% from the company's current price.

SPRB has been the subject of several other reports. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a "sell (e+)" rating on shares of Spruce Biosciences in a research note on Monday, December 29th. Citizens Jmp cut their price target on Spruce Biosciences from $180.00 to $170.00 and set a "market outperform" rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, March 10th. Finally, HC Wainwright reiterated a "buy" rating and issued a $200.00 price objective on shares of Spruce Biosciences in a research report on Tuesday, March 10th. Five analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, two have assigned a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $190.60.

Spruce Biosciences Price Performance

Shares of SPRB stock opened at $54.37 on Monday. The business's fifty day moving average price is $61.05 and its 200 day moving average price is $85.48. Spruce Biosciences has a 1-year low of $4.28 and a 1-year high of $240.00. The firm has a market capitalization of $74.49 million, a PE ratio of -1.05 and a beta of 3.62.

Spruce Biosciences (NASDAQ:SPRB - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Thursday, March 12th. The company reported ($9.58) EPS for the quarter, missing analysts' consensus estimates of ($9.16) by ($0.42). Equities research analysts expect that Spruce Biosciences will post -31.02 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Institutional Trading of Spruce Biosciences

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in SPRB. Carlyle Group Inc. purchased a new position in Spruce Biosciences in the 3rd quarter valued at about $24,765,000. Ikarian Capital LLC grew its holdings in shares of Spruce Biosciences by 810.3% during the fourth quarter. Ikarian Capital LLC now owns 121,356 shares of the company's stock worth $10,571,000 after buying an additional 108,024 shares in the last quarter. Squadron Capital Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of Spruce Biosciences in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $6,098,000. Wellington Management Group LLP acquired a new position in shares of Spruce Biosciences in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $5,135,000. Finally, ADAR1 Capital Management LLC purchased a new position in shares of Spruce Biosciences during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $5,052,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 91.71% of the company's stock.

About Spruce Biosciences

Spruce Biosciences, Inc is a clinical-stage biopharmaceutical company dedicated to developing therapies for rare endocrine and dermatological disorders. Headquartered in San Diego, California, Spruce focuses on conditions with significant unmet medical needs, employing a precision medicine approach to identify and advance treatment candidates through late-stage clinical trials.

The company's lead asset, tildacerfont, is an oral corticotropin-releasing factor type 1 (CRF1) receptor antagonist being evaluated for the treatment of congenital adrenal hyperplasia (CAH), a genetic disorder characterized by insufficient cortisol production and excess androgen levels.

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