Savara (NASDAQ:SVRA) Trading Up 4.8% on Analyst Upgrade

Key Points

• Savara Inc. shares rose 4.8% after HC Wainwright upgraded their price target from $5.00 to $8.00, maintaining a buy rating on the stock.
• Hedge funds have significantly increased their holdings in Savara, with Bain Capital Life Sciences raising their stake by 20.8% during the 1st quarter.
• Despite the positive analyst ratings, Savara posted a quarterly earnings report with an earnings per share of (-$0.14), below the consensus estimate of (–$0.12).

Savara Inc. (NASDAQ:SVRA - Get Free Report)'s share price traded up 4.8% during trading on Wednesday after HC Wainwright raised their price target on the stock from $5.00 to $8.00. HC Wainwright currently has a buy rating on the stock. Savara traded as high as $3.48 and last traded at $3.47. 203,938 shares were traded during mid-day trading, a decline of 84% from the average session volume of 1,247,472 shares. The stock had previously closed at $3.31.

Other research analysts also recently issued research reports about the stock. Oppenheimer upped their price objective on shares of Savara from $5.00 to $6.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research note on Friday, August 15th. Wells Fargo & Company lowered their target price on shares of Savara from $8.00 to $7.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, May 28th. Guggenheim reaffirmed a "buy" rating and set a $8.00 price target (down previously from $9.00) on shares of Savara in a research note on Wednesday, May 28th. Finally, Evercore ISI decreased their price target on shares of Savara from $3.00 to $2.00 and set an "in-line" rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, May 28th. Five investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and one has assigned a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $6.67.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Savara news, Director Richard J. Hawkins acquired 48,225 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Friday, June 20th. The stock was bought at an average cost of $2.04 per share, for a total transaction of $98,379.00. Following the completion of the purchase, the director directly owned 115,466 shares in the company, valued at $235,550.64. This represents a 71.72% increase in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. 5.33% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Savara

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in SVRA. Prudential Financial Inc. acquired a new stake in Savara in the 2nd quarter valued at $30,000. BNP Paribas Financial Markets boosted its position in shares of Savara by 52.3% in the second quarter. BNP Paribas Financial Markets now owns 13,473 shares of the company's stock worth $31,000 after buying an additional 4,626 shares during the period. May Hill Capital LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Savara in the second quarter valued at about $32,000. Brevan Howard Capital Management LP purchased a new stake in shares of Savara during the 2nd quarter valued at about $33,000. Finally, Ameriprise Financial Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Savara during the 4th quarter valued at about $37,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 87.93% of the company's stock.

Savara Stock Up 3.9%

The firm has a 50-day moving average of $2.71 and a 200 day moving average of $2.71. The stock has a market capitalization of $642.96 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of -7.44 and a beta of 0.56. The company has a current ratio of 11.08, a quick ratio of 11.08 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.25.

Savara (NASDAQ:SVRA - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, August 13th. The company reported ($0.14) EPS for the quarter, missing analysts' consensus estimates of ($0.12) by ($0.02). On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that Savara Inc. will post -0.45 earnings per share for the current year.

Savara Company Profile

Savara Inc, formerly Mast Therapeutics, Inc, is a clinical-stage pharmaceutical company. The Company is focused on the development and commercialization of novel therapies for the treatment of patients with rare respiratory diseases. Its pipeline includes AeroVanc, Molgradex and AIR001. AeroVanc is an inhaled formulation of vancomycin, which the Company is developing for the treatment of persistent methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus, lung infection in cystic fibrosis patients.