Valneva (NASDAQ:VALN) Trading 5.6% Higher - Should You Buy?

Key Points

• Valneva's stock price increased by 5.6%, closing at $9.00, despite a significant drop in trading volume.
• Analysts have a consensus target price of $15.00, with several firms giving the stock a "buy" rating, while the most recent ratings range from $13.00 to $18.00.
• In its latest earnings report, Valneva beat expectations with revenues of $54.84 million and posted an earnings per share of ($0.16), exceeding the consensus estimate by $0.11.

Valneva SE Sponsored ADR (NASDAQ:VALN - Get Free Report) shot up 5.6% during mid-day trading on Tuesday . The company traded as high as $8.93 and last traded at $9.00. 10,775 shares were traded during trading, a decline of 85% from the average session volume of 70,513 shares. The stock had previously closed at $8.52.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research analysts have weighed in on VALN shares. Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of Valneva to a "hold" rating in a research report on Saturday, September 6th. HC Wainwright reiterated a "buy" rating and issued a $18.00 price objective on shares of Valneva in a research report on Monday, August 25th. Guggenheim decreased their price objective on shares of Valneva from $14.00 to $13.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research report on Monday, September 8th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group set a $14.00 price objective on shares of Valneva and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research report on Monday, August 25th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, According to MarketBeat.com, Valneva has a consensus rating of "Buy" and a consensus price target of $15.00.

Valneva Stock Down 2.6%

The firm has a market cap of $768.19 million, a PE ratio of -9.12 and a beta of 1.79. The business's 50 day moving average price is $8.35 and its 200 day moving average price is $7.13. 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 (NASDAQ:VALN - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data 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 net margin of 33.87% and a negative return on equity of 34.78%. The company had revenue of $54.84 million during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $46.28 million. On average, equities research analysts expect that Valneva SE Sponsored ADR will post 0.13 earnings per share for the current year.

Institutional Trading of Valneva

Several hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in VALN. Frazier Life Sciences Management L.P. purchased a new stake in shares of Valneva in the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $8,240,000. GAMMA Investing LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Valneva in the 1st quarter valued at approximately $94,000. Finally, Marex Group plc purchased a new stake in shares of Valneva in the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $64,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 11.39% of the company's stock.

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.