89bio (NASDAQ:ETNB) Posts Earnings Results, Misses Expectations By $0.42 EPS

89bio (NASDAQ:ETNB) announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday. The company reported ($1.02) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of ($0.60) by ($0.42), Zacks reports.

89bio Price Performance

NASDAQ ETNB opened at $7.85 on Friday. 89bio has a 12 month low of $5.99 and a 12 month high of $13.71. The stock has a market cap of $833.09 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of -2.70 and a beta of 1.17. The company’s 50 day moving average is $8.80 and its two-hundred day moving average is $8.48. The company has a current ratio of 11.66, a quick ratio of 11.66 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.09.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, Director Ra Capital Management, L.P. bought 5,714,285 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, January 30th. The shares were bought at an average price of $8.75 per share, for a total transaction of $49,999,993.75. Following the purchase, the director now owns 19,554,319 shares in the company, valued at approximately $171,100,291.25. The trade was a 41.29 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The purchase was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, Director Charles Mcwherter bought 5,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, January 21st. The shares were purchased at an average price of $6.55 per share, for a total transaction of $32,750.00. Following the purchase, the director now owns 15,000 shares in the company, valued at $98,250. This trade represents a 50.00 % increase in their position. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. 2.80% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

ETNB has been the topic of a number of recent analyst reports. Cantor Fitzgerald reaffirmed an “overweight” rating and set a $29.00 price target on shares of 89bio in a report on Thursday, January 2nd. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “sell (d-)” rating on shares of 89bio in a report on Friday. HC Wainwright reaffirmed a “buy” rating and set a $21.00 price target (down previously from $29.00) on shares of 89bio in a report on Friday, February 28th. Wolfe Research started coverage on shares of 89bio in a report on Tuesday, February 4th. They issued an “outperform” rating on the stock. Finally, Raymond James raised shares of 89bio to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Thursday, December 12th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating, six have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Buy” and a consensus price target of $30.29.

About 89bio

89bio, Inc, a clinical-stage biopharmaceutical company, focuses on the development and commercialization of therapies for the treatment of liver and cardio-metabolic diseases. Its lead product candidate is pegozafermin, a glycoPEGylated analog of fibroblast growth factor 21 for the treatment of nonalcoholic steatohepatitis; and for the treatment of severe hypertriglyceridemia.