Lineage Cell Therapeutics (NYSEAMERICAN:LCTX) Shares Up 0.6% - Should You Buy?

Key Points

• Analysts are bullish: three firms have "Buy" ratings with price targets recently raised and an average target of $5.33, implying substantial upside from the current share price.
• Quarterly beat but still unprofitable: the company reported $0.00 EPS (vs. -$0.07 est.) and revenue of $6.61M (vs. $1.96M est.), yet it still shows a very negative net margin and return on equity.
• Clinical-stage biotech with a lead program: Lineage develops allogeneic, pluripotent stem-cell therapies—its lead candidate, OpRegen, targets geographic atrophy from age-related macular degeneration.

Lineage Cell Therapeutics, Inc. (NYSEAMERICAN:LCTX - Get Free Report) shares traded up 0.6% during mid-day trading on Thursday . The stock traded as high as $1.64 and last traded at $1.64. 866,160 shares changed hands during trading, a decline of 17% from the average session volume of 1,040,927 shares. The stock had previously closed at $1.63.

Analyst Ratings Changes

LCTX has been the topic of a number of recent research reports. B. Riley Financial lifted their price objective on Lineage Cell Therapeutics from $3.00 to $4.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a report on Wednesday, March 25th. D. Boral Capital boosted their target price on Lineage Cell Therapeutics from $2.00 to $3.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a report on Friday, March 6th. Finally, HC Wainwright reaffirmed a "buy" rating and set a $9.00 price objective on shares of Lineage Cell Therapeutics in a report on Tuesday, March 24th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of "Buy" and an average target price of $5.33.

Lineage Cell Therapeutics Stock Performance

The firm's 50-day simple moving average is $1.66 and its 200 day simple moving average is $1.70. The company has a market cap of $408.51 million, a P/E ratio of -5.86 and a beta of 1.79.

Lineage Cell Therapeutics (NYSEAMERICAN:LCTX - Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, March 5th. The company reported $0.00 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of ($0.07) by $0.07. Lineage Cell Therapeutics had a negative net margin of 436.47% and a negative return on equity of 76.13%. The company had revenue of $6.61 million during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $1.96 million. As a group, research analysts forecast that Lineage Cell Therapeutics, Inc. will post -0.12 earnings per share for the current year.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Lineage Cell Therapeutics

A number of large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in LCTX. Royal Bank of Canada increased its holdings in Lineage Cell Therapeutics by 1,578.9% during the 1st quarter. Royal Bank of Canada now owns 528,656 shares of the company's stock worth $237,000 after purchasing an additional 497,168 shares in the last quarter. Rhumbline Advisers boosted its stake in shares of Lineage Cell Therapeutics by 9.9% during the 1st quarter. Rhumbline Advisers now owns 201,447 shares of the company's stock worth $91,000 after buying an additional 18,092 shares during the last quarter. XTX Topco Ltd lifted its stake in Lineage Cell Therapeutics by 117.8% in the 2nd quarter. XTX Topco Ltd now owns 94,054 shares of the company's stock valued at $85,000 after purchasing an additional 50,876 shares during the last quarter. Jump Financial LLC acquired a new stake in Lineage Cell Therapeutics in the 2nd quarter valued at about $28,000. Finally, WINTON GROUP Ltd acquired a new stake in Lineage Cell Therapeutics in the 2nd quarter valued at about $69,000. Institutional investors own 62.47% of the company's stock.

Lineage Cell Therapeutics Company Profile

Lineage Cell Therapeutics is a clinical-stage biotechnology company developing novel, allogeneic cell therapies built on pluripotent stem cell platforms. The company focuses on three primary therapeutic areas—retinal disease, neural repair and immune-effector cell oncology—leveraging its proprietary manufacturing processes to create off-the-shelf cell therapy candidates designed for broad patient populations.

Its lead candidate, OpRegen, comprises retinal pigment epithelium cells intended to slow or reverse vision loss in patients with geographic atrophy secondary to age-related macular degeneration.

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