Short Interest in Replimune Group, Inc. (NASDAQ:REPL) Grows By 165.7%

Key Points

• Replimune Group, Inc. experienced a significant increase in short interest, rising by 165.7% from 8,020,000 shares to 21,310,000 shares, which constitutes 28.8% of its total shares.
• The company's stock has faced scrutiny from analysts, with multiple downgrades and target price reductions, notably Barclays lowering its target from $17.00 to $3.00.
• Replimune reported a miss in its earnings results, posting ($0.95) earnings per share, which fell short of the consensus estimate of ($0.83).

Replimune Group, Inc. (NASDAQ:REPL - Get Free Report) was the target of a large increase in short interest during the month of July. As of July 31st, there was short interest totaling 21,310,000 shares, anincreaseof165.7% from the July 15th total of 8,020,000 shares. Approximately28.8% of the company's stock are sold short. Based on an average daily volume of 8,460,000 shares, the short-interest ratio is currently 2.5 days. Based on an average daily volume of 8,460,000 shares, the short-interest ratio is currently 2.5 days. Approximately28.8% of the company's stock are sold short.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research firms have recently issued reports on REPL. BMO Capital Markets cut shares of Replimune Group from an "outperform" rating to an "underperform" rating and decreased their price objective for the stock from $27.00 to $2.00 in a research report on Wednesday, July 23rd. Leerink Partnrs cut shares of Replimune Group from a "strong-buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 22nd. Wedbush reissued a "neutral" rating and issued a $4.00 price target (down from $19.00) on shares of Replimune Group in a research report on Tuesday, July 22nd. Piper Sandler cut shares of Replimune Group from an "overweight" rating to a "neutral" rating and set a $3.00 price target for the company. in a research report on Tuesday, July 22nd. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. reissued a "neutral" rating and issued a $9.00 price target (down from $19.00) on shares of Replimune Group in a research report on Tuesday, July 22nd. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, three have assigned a Buy rating, seven have issued a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $7.67.

Replimune Group Stock Performance

Shares of Replimune Group stock traded up $0.0750 on Wednesday, reaching $5.3550. 906,434 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 4,081,123. Replimune Group has a 1-year low of $2.68 and a 1-year high of $17.00. The company has a current ratio of 6.94, a quick ratio of 6.94 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.21. The business has a fifty day moving average price of $8.04 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $9.46. The firm has a market capitalization of $418.01 million, a PE ratio of -1.66 and a beta of 0.67.

Replimune Group (NASDAQ:REPL - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, August 7th. The company reported ($0.95) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts' consensus estimates of ($0.83) by ($0.12). As a group, research analysts anticipate that Replimune Group will post -2.97 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity

In other news, CFO Emily Luisa Hill sold 9,154 shares of Replimune Group stock in a transaction on Friday, August 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $5.37, for a total transaction of $49,156.98. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer directly owned 134,368 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $721,556.16. The trade was a 6.38% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Company insiders own 5.20% of the company's stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD increased its stake in shares of Replimune Group by 11.0% during the fourth quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 10,962,883 shares of the company's stock worth $132,761,000 after acquiring an additional 1,083,633 shares during the period. Redmile Group LLC increased its stake in shares of Replimune Group by 2.6% during the fourth quarter. Redmile Group LLC now owns 4,905,527 shares of the company's stock worth $59,406,000 after acquiring an additional 124,344 shares during the period. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its stake in shares of Replimune Group by 6.6% during the first quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 3,833,033 shares of the company's stock worth $37,372,000 after acquiring an additional 237,185 shares during the period. Tang Capital Management LLC increased its stake in shares of Replimune Group by 125.0% during the fourth quarter. Tang Capital Management LLC now owns 2,700,000 shares of the company's stock worth $32,697,000 after acquiring an additional 1,500,000 shares during the period. Finally, RTW Investments LP increased its stake in shares of Replimune Group by 82.1% during the fourth quarter. RTW Investments LP now owns 2,065,010 shares of the company's stock worth $25,007,000 after acquiring an additional 931,223 shares during the period. 92.53% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Replimune Group Company Profile

Replimune Group, Inc, a clinical-stage biotechnology company, focuses on the development of oncolytic immunotherapies to treat cancer. The company's proprietary tumor-directed oncolytic immunotherapy product candidates are designed and intended to activate the immune system against cancer. Its lead product candidate is RP1, a selectively replicating version of HSV-1 that expresses GALV-GP R(-) and human GM-CSF, which is in Phase I/II clinical trials for a range of solid tumors; and that has completed Phase II clinical trials for treating cutaneous squamous cell carcinoma.