Kezar Life Sciences, Inc. (NASDAQ:KZR) Given Average Recommendation of "Reduce" by Brokerages

Key Points

• Analysts give Kezar an average recommendation of "Reduce" from six brokers (two sell, four hold) with an average 1-year target of $6.00, and Weiss Ratings also reiterated a sell (d-) opinion.
• The company missed quarterly expectations, reporting EPS of ($1.99) versus consensus ($1.39), and analysts forecast a steep full-year EPS of −4.39.
• Shares are thinly capitalized with a market cap of about $54.2M, opened at $7.35 (1-year range $3.53–$7.55), and roughly 67.9% of the stock is held by institutional investors.

Kezar Life Sciences, Inc. (NASDAQ:KZR - Get Free Report) has been given an average recommendation of "Reduce" by the six ratings firms that are covering the firm, Marketbeat Ratings reports. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating and four have assigned a hold rating to the company. The average 1-year target price among brokerages that have issued ratings on the stock in the last year is $6.00.

Separately, Weiss Ratings restated a "sell (d-)" rating on shares of Kezar Life Sciences in a research note on Monday, December 22nd.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Kezar Life Sciences

Large investors have recently modified their holdings of the business. BML Capital Management LLC boosted its stake in shares of Kezar Life Sciences by 13.5% during the 3rd quarter. BML Capital Management LLC now owns 720,787 shares of the company's stock worth $2,811,000 after buying an additional 85,604 shares during the last quarter. Peapod Lane Capital LLC boosted its stake in shares of Kezar Life Sciences by 9.3% during the 3rd quarter. Peapod Lane Capital LLC now owns 125,773 shares of the company's stock worth $491,000 after buying an additional 10,650 shares during the last quarter. Torno Capital LLC acquired a new position in shares of Kezar Life Sciences during the 4th quarter worth about $126,000. Bridgeway Capital Management LLC boosted its stake in shares of Kezar Life Sciences by 25.9% during the 4th quarter. Bridgeway Capital Management LLC now owns 51,638 shares of the company's stock worth $325,000 after buying an additional 10,638 shares during the last quarter. Finally, State Street Corp boosted its stake in shares of Kezar Life Sciences by 28.4% during the 4th quarter. State Street Corp now owns 27,093 shares of the company's stock worth $170,000 after buying an additional 6,000 shares during the last quarter. 67.90% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Kezar Life Sciences Trading Down 0.4%

KZR stock opened at $7.35 on Friday. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $6.73 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $6.11. The stock has a market cap of $54.17 million, a PE ratio of -0.96 and a beta of 0.43. Kezar Life Sciences has a 1 year low of $3.53 and a 1 year high of $7.55.

Kezar Life Sciences (NASDAQ:KZR - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Friday, March 27th. The company reported ($1.99) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts' consensus estimates of ($1.39) by ($0.60). On average, analysts forecast that Kezar Life Sciences will post -4.39 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

About Kezar Life Sciences

Kezar Life Sciences is a clinical-stage biotechnology company focused on the discovery and development of novel small-molecule therapies that modulate the innate immune system. The company's research centers on selective inhibition of the immunoproteasome, a key protein complex involved in antigen processing and secretion of inflammatory cytokines. By targeting this pathway, Kezar aims to address unmet medical needs in autoimmune and inflammatory diseases with high specificity and a favorable safety profile.

The company's lead development candidate, KZR-616, is a selective immunoproteasome inhibitor being evaluated in multiple clinical trials for autoimmune conditions such as systemic lupus erythematosus, lupus nephritis, polymyositis and dermatomyositis.

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