Candel Therapeutics (NASDAQ:CADL) Shares Gap Up Following Analyst Upgrade

Key Points

• Bank of America upgraded Candel Therapeutics to “buy” from “neutral” and raised its price target to $18 from $12, prompting shares to gap up from $10.85 to $11.85 before trading around $11.63.
• Analyst sentiment is generally positive, with a consensus “Moderate Buy” rating and average price target of $20.14; nine analysts rate the stock a buy, compared with one hold and one sell.
• Insiders sold 37,447 shares worth approximately $390,017 over the past three months, while institutional ownership expanded, including a new $51.2 million position by BlackRock.

Candel Therapeutics, Inc. (NASDAQ:CADL - Get Free Report)'s share price gapped up before the market opened on Monday after Bank of America upgraded the stock from a neutral rating to a buy rating. The stock had previously closed at $10.85, but opened at $11.85. Bank of America now has a $18.00 price target on the stock, up from their previous price target of $12.00. Candel Therapeutics shares last traded at $11.6320, with a volume of 205,084 shares.

Several other research analysts have also commented on CADL. UBS Group reissued a "buy" rating on shares of Candel Therapeutics in a research report on Monday, August 17th. HC Wainwright reiterated a "buy" rating and issued a $23.00 target price on shares of Candel Therapeutics in a research note on Thursday, August 13th. Stifel Nicolaus started coverage on shares of Candel Therapeutics in a report on Monday, July 13th. They issued a "buy" rating and a $22.00 target price for the company. Wall Street Zen cut shares of Candel Therapeutics from a "hold" rating to a "sell" rating in a report on Sunday, August 16th. Finally, Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a "sell (d-)" rating on shares of Candel Therapeutics in a research report on Friday, July 17th. Nine research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, one has issued a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $20.14.

Insider Activity

In related news, CTO Seshu Tyagarajan sold 7,000 shares of Candel Therapeutics stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, August 17th. The shares were sold at an average price of $12.00, for a total value of $84,000.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief technology officer directly owned 76,865 shares in the company, valued at $922,380. This trade represents a 8.35% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, insider Francesca Barone sold 23,447 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, June 29th. The stock was sold at an average price of $10.06, for a total transaction of $235,876.82. Following the sale, the insider directly owned 77,362 shares in the company, valued at approximately $778,261.72. This represents a 23.26% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. In the last three months, insiders sold 37,447 shares of company stock valued at $390,017. Corporate insiders own 14.30% of the company's stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Candel Therapeutics

A number of large investors have recently made changes to their positions in CADL. Janus Henderson Group PLC acquired a new position in Candel Therapeutics in the first quarter valued at approximately $845,000. BlackRock Inc. acquired a new stake in Candel Therapeutics during the second quarter worth $51,181,000. Wellington Management Group LLP acquired a new stake in Candel Therapeutics during the second quarter worth $2,119,000. Squarepoint Ops LLC purchased a new stake in Candel Therapeutics in the second quarter valued at $775,000. Finally, Halter Ferguson Financial Inc. raised its position in Candel Therapeutics by 20.9% in the first quarter. Halter Ferguson Financial Inc. now owns 904,051 shares of the company's stock valued at $4,430,000 after purchasing an additional 155,996 shares during the period. 13.93% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Candel Therapeutics Trading Up 6.3%

The company has a 50 day moving average price of $11.27 and a 200 day moving average price of $8.60. The firm has a market cap of $882.26 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of -8.26 and a beta of -0.48. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.38, a quick ratio of 16.09 and a current ratio of 16.09.

Candel Therapeutics (NASDAQ:CADL - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, August 13th. The company reported ($0.52) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts' consensus estimates of ($0.24) by ($0.28). On average, research analysts expect that Candel Therapeutics, Inc. will post -1.29 earnings per share for the current year.

Candel Therapeutics Company Profile

Candel Therapeutics, Inc is a clinical-stage biotechnology company developing multimodal biological immunotherapies designed to stimulate the immune system to recognize and attack cancer. The company focuses on engineered viruses administered directly into tumors, with the goal of creating a localized immune response that may also affect cancer cells elsewhere in the body.

Candel's pipeline includes CAN-2409, an investigational, replication-defective adenovirus-based immunotherapy being studied in cancers including localized prostate cancer and non-small cell lung cancer.

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