Valneva (NASDAQ:VALN) Sets New 12-Month High - Still a Buy?

Key Points

• Valneva SE shares reached a new 52-week high, trading at $12.25, with analysts suggesting a consensus rating of "Buy" and an average price target of $16.00.
• Despite reporting a negative EPS of ($0.16), Valneva exceeded revenue expectations with $54.84 million for the quarter, beating estimates by $8.56 million.
• Institutional investors hold about 11.39% of Valneva's stock, with Wells Fargo increasing its stake by 14.3% in the last quarter.

Valneva SE Sponsored ADR (NASDAQ:VALN - Get Free Report)'s share price hit a new 52-week high during trading on Wednesday . The stock traded as high as $12.25 and last traded at $11.46, with a volume of 106486 shares changing hands. The stock had previously closed at $12.14.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities analysts have commented on VALN shares. Guggenheim cut their price objective on Valneva from $15.00 to $14.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, May 8th. HC Wainwright started coverage on Valneva in a research report on Tuesday. They issued a "buy" rating and a $18.00 price objective on the stock. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of "Buy" and an average price target of $16.00.

Valneva Stock Up 4.0%

The company has a current ratio of 2.27, a quick ratio of 1.77 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.66. The business has a 50-day moving average price of $7.41 and a 200-day moving average price of $6.97. The firm has a market cap of $990.49 million, a P/E ratio of -11.88 and a beta of 1.77.

Valneva (NASDAQ:VALN - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, August 12th. The company reported ($0.16) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates 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 business had revenue of $54.84 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $46.28 million. On average, equities analysts forecast that Valneva SE Sponsored ADR will post 0.13 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Valneva

Hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Marex Group plc bought a new stake in Valneva during the second quarter valued at about $64,000. GAMMA Investing LLC bought a new stake in Valneva during the first quarter valued at about $94,000. Wells Fargo & Company MN boosted its position in Valneva by 14.3% during the fourth quarter. Wells Fargo & Company MN now owns 246,766 shares of the company's stock valued at $1,079,000 after purchasing an additional 30,859 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Frazier Life Sciences Management L.P. bought a new stake in Valneva during the second quarter valued at about $8,240,000. 11.39% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

About Valneva

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.