ProKidney Corp. (NASDAQ:PROK) Receives Consensus Recommendation of "Moderate Buy" from Brokerages

Key Points

• Analysts have a consensus recommendation of "Moderate Buy" on ProKidney from eight covering firms (2 sell, 1 hold, 4 buy, 1 strong buy), with an average 1‑year price target of $7.40.
• ProKidney reported Q1 EPS of ($0.14), beating the ($0.16) estimate and generating $0.23M in revenue; the stock opened at $2.01 with a 12‑month range of $0.54–$7.13 and a market cap of about $606.9M.
• Institutional ownership is significant at 51.59%, with firms like AQR boosting their stakes (AQR up 106.4% to 52,570 shares) and several hedge funds initiating or adding positions recently.

Shares of ProKidney Corp. (NASDAQ:PROK - Get Free Report) have been assigned a consensus recommendation of "Moderate Buy" from the eight research firms that are presently covering the firm, Marketbeat Ratings reports. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell recommendation, one has issued a hold recommendation, four have issued a buy recommendation and one has given a strong buy recommendation to the company. The average 1-year price target among analysts that have issued ratings on the stock in the last year is $7.40.

Several equities analysts have recently commented on PROK shares. Jefferies Financial Group upgraded shares of ProKidney to a "strong-buy" rating in a research report on Wednesday, March 18th. Weiss Ratings reissued a "sell (d-)" rating on shares of ProKidney in a research note on Thursday, January 22nd. Finally, Wall Street Zen cut shares of ProKidney from a "hold" rating to a "sell" rating in a research report on Saturday, March 21st.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On ProKidney

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in PROK. Cetera Investment Advisers acquired a new stake in ProKidney in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $28,000. Zullo Investment Group Inc. acquired a new position in ProKidney during the 3rd quarter worth $28,000. AQR Capital Management LLC boosted its position in ProKidney by 106.4% during the 1st quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 52,570 shares of the company's stock worth $46,000 after acquiring an additional 27,098 shares during the period. EntryPoint Capital LLC bought a new position in shares of ProKidney in the fourth quarter worth $65,000. Finally, Hudson Bay Capital Management LP bought a new position in shares of ProKidney in the fourth quarter worth $101,000. 51.59% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

ProKidney Trading Up 5.2%

Shares of NASDAQ PROK opened at $2.01 on Thursday. ProKidney has a 12-month low of $0.54 and a 12-month high of $7.13. The company has a market cap of $606.85 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of -3.87 and a beta of 1.84. The stock's 50 day simple moving average is $2.04 and its 200 day simple moving average is $2.34.

ProKidney (NASDAQ:PROK - Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, March 18th. The company reported ($0.14) earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of ($0.16) by $0.02. The company had revenue of $0.23 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $0.00 million. As a group, equities analysts forecast that ProKidney will post -0.57 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

About ProKidney

ProKidney, Inc NASDAQ: PROK is a clinical-stage biotechnology company focused on developing cell-based therapies for kidney diseases. The company’s research and development activities center on harnessing human-derived proximal tubule cells to address conditions such as acute kidney injury (AKI) and chronic kidney disease (CKD). By targeting the underlying cellular mechanisms of renal injury and dysfunction, ProKidney aims to offer novel regenerative medicine approaches that go beyond current supportive care options.

ProKidney’s lead programs utilize proprietary methods for isolating and expanding renal epithelial cells to create injectable therapeutic products.

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