Esperion Therapeutics (NASDAQ:ESPR) Receives "Buy" Rating from HC Wainwright

Key Points

• HC Wainwright has reaffirmed a buy rating for Esperion Therapeutics (ESPR) with a price target of $16.00, suggesting a potential upside of 465.57% from its previous closing price.
• While HC Wainwright maintains a positive outlook, another analyst, Wall Street Zen, has downgraded the stock from a "buy" to a "hold" rating, highlighting mixed sentiments within the market.
• Esperion recently reported a quarterly EPS of ($0.02), beating expectations and generating revenues of $82.39 million, surpassing forecasts of $62.55 million.

Esperion Therapeutics (NASDAQ:ESPR - Get Free Report)'s stock had its "buy" rating reaffirmed by equities research analysts at HC Wainwright in a research note issued to investors on Friday,Benzinga reports. They presently have a $16.00 price target on the biopharmaceutical company's stock.

Separately, Wall Street Zen downgraded shares of Esperion Therapeutics from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Monday, August 25th. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and one has issued a Hold rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat, Esperion Therapeutics presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $7.00.

Esperion Therapeutics Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:ESPR traded down $0.01 during mid-day trading on Friday, reaching $2.51. 3,816,585 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 5,013,710. The company's 50 day moving average price is $2.00 and its 200-day moving average price is $1.43. The firm has a market cap of $505.06 million, a PE ratio of -5.11, a PEG ratio of 59.75 and a beta of 0.89. Esperion Therapeutics has a 52 week low of $0.69 and a 52 week high of $3.94.

Esperion Therapeutics (NASDAQ:ESPR - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, August 5th. The biopharmaceutical company reported ($0.02) earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of ($0.17) by $0.15. Esperion Therapeutics had a negative net margin of 35.84% and a negative return on equity of 0.91%. The business had revenue of $82.39 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $62.55 million. On average, research analysts predict that Esperion Therapeutics will post -0.29 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Esperion Therapeutics

Large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Meridian Wealth Management LLC purchased a new stake in Esperion Therapeutics in the 1st quarter valued at about $29,000. North Star Investment Management Corp. bought a new stake in shares of Esperion Therapeutics during the second quarter valued at approximately $25,000. Sivia Capital Partners LLC purchased a new position in Esperion Therapeutics during the 2nd quarter worth $25,000. Synergy Asset Management LLC increased its holdings in Esperion Therapeutics by 3,496.3% during the 1st quarter. Synergy Asset Management LLC now owns 31,000 shares of the biopharmaceutical company's stock worth $45,000 after purchasing an additional 30,138 shares during the period. Finally, Rafferty Asset Management LLC purchased a new position in Esperion Therapeutics during the 4th quarter worth $82,000. 47.39% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

About Esperion Therapeutics

Esperion Therapeutics, Inc, a pharmaceutical company, develops and commercializes medicines for the treatment of patients with elevated low density lipoprotein cholesterol (LDL-C). Its marketed products include NEXLETOL (bempedoic acid) and NEXLIZET (bempedoic acid and ezetimibe) tablets that are oral, once-daily, non-statin medicines for the treatment of primary hyperlipidemia in adults with heterozygous familial hypercholesterolemia or atherosclerotic cardiovascular disease who require additional lowering of LDL-C.