Valneva SE Sponsored ADR (NASDAQ:VALN) Short Interest Update

Key Points

• Valneva SE saw a significant increase in short interest, rising by 64.6% in August, with total short interest reaching 74,900 shares.
• Hedge funds have been actively acquiring positions in Valneva, with notable investments including $8.24 million from Frazier Life Sciences Management L.P.
• Analysts currently have a buy rating on Valneva with an average target price of $15.33, while the stock has a recent price of $8.65.

Valneva SE Sponsored ADR (NASDAQ:VALN - Get Free Report) was the target of a significant growth in short interest in the month of August. As of August 15th, there was short interest totaling 74,900 shares, a growth of 64.6% from the July 31st total of 45,500 shares. Approximately 0.1% of the shares of the company are short sold. Based on an average trading volume of 63,200 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is presently 1.2 days. Based on an average trading volume of 63,200 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is presently 1.2 days. Approximately 0.1% of the shares of the company are short sold.

Valneva Stock Performance

Shares of VALN traded up $0.41 during mid-day trading on Tuesday, hitting $8.93. The stock had a trading volume of 38,614 shares, compared to its average volume of 137,715. The firm has a market cap of $767.35 million, a P/E ratio of -9.11 and a beta of 1.79. The business has a fifty day moving average price of $8.15 and a 200-day moving average price of $7.09. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.66, a current ratio of 2.27 and a quick ratio of 1.77. Valneva has a 52 week low of $3.62 and a 52 week high of $12.25.

Valneva (NASDAQ:VALN - Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results on Tuesday, August 12th. The company reported ($0.16) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of ($0.27) by $0.11. Valneva had a negative return on equity of 34.78% and a negative net margin of 33.87%.The firm had revenue of $54.84 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $46.28 million. On average, equities research analysts expect that Valneva will post 0.13 EPS for the current year.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

VALN has been the topic of a number of recent analyst reports. Jefferies Financial Group set a $14.00 price target on Valneva and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a report on Monday, August 25th. HC Wainwright reiterated a "buy" rating and set a $18.00 price target on shares of Valneva in a report on Monday, August 25th. Guggenheim lowered their target price on Valneva from $14.00 to $13.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research note on Monday. Finally, Wall Street Zen upgraded Valneva to a "hold" rating in a research note on Saturday. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of "Buy" and a consensus target price of $15.00.

Institutional Trading of Valneva

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Marex Group plc bought a new stake in shares of Valneva during the 2nd quarter valued at $64,000. GAMMA Investing LLC bought a new stake in shares of Valneva during the 1st quarter valued at $94,000. Finally, Frazier Life Sciences Management L.P. bought a new stake in shares of Valneva during the 2nd quarter valued at $8,240,000. 11.39% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Valneva Company Profile

Valneva SE, a specialty vaccine company, develops, manufactures, and commercializes prophylactic vaccines for infectious diseases with unmet needs. It offers IXIARO, an inactivated Vero cell culture-derived Japanese encephalitis vaccine indicated for active immunization against Japanese encephalitis; DUKORAL, an oral vaccine for the prevention of diarrhea caused by Vibrio cholera and/or heat-labile toxin producing enterotoxigenic Escherichia coli bacterium; IXCHIQ, a single-dose, live-attenuated vaccine for the prevention of disease caused by chikungunya virus; and VLA2001, an inactivated whole-virus COVID-19 vaccine.