HC Wainwright Reaffirms Buy Rating for Emergent Biosolutions (NYSE:EBS)

Emergent Biosolutions (NYSE:EBS)‘s stock had its “buy” rating reaffirmed by stock analysts at HC Wainwright in a report released on Tuesday,Benzinga reports. They currently have a $15.00 target price on the biopharmaceutical company’s stock. HC Wainwright’s target price suggests a potential upside of 23.00% from the company’s current price.

Other equities research analysts have also recently issued research reports about the company. Weiss Ratings restated a “hold (c-)” rating on shares of Emergent Biosolutions in a report on Monday, December 8th. Wall Street Zen upgraded Emergent Biosolutions from a “buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Sunday, November 30th. Finally, Zacks Research raised Emergent Biosolutions to a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, October 24th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Buy rating and two have assigned a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $15.00.

Emergent Biosolutions Price Performance

NYSE EBS opened at $12.20 on Tuesday. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $10.57 and a 200 day simple moving average of $8.62. The stock has a market cap of $640.48 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of 9.38 and a beta of 2.32. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.14, a quick ratio of 3.15 and a current ratio of 5.76. Emergent Biosolutions has a 52-week low of $4.02 and a 52-week high of $13.41.

Emergent Biosolutions (NYSE:EBS) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, January 9th. The biopharmaceutical company reported ($1.27) EPS for the quarter. Emergent Biosolutions had a return on equity of 20.85% and a net margin of 9.62%.The business had revenue of $222.50 million for the quarter. Analysts anticipate that Emergent Biosolutions will post -0.63 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, Director Ronald Richard sold 21,984 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, December 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $11.97, for a total value of $263,148.48. Following the completion of the transaction, the director owned 98,417 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,178,051.49. The trade was a 18.26% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, EVP Coleen Glessner sold 30,608 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, October 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $10.00, for a total transaction of $306,080.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president directly owned 144,319 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,443,190. This represents a 17.50% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. 1.20% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Institutional Trading of Emergent Biosolutions

Large investors have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Legal & General Group Plc acquired a new stake in shares of Emergent Biosolutions during the second quarter valued at about $31,000. Ameritas Investment Partners Inc. bought a new position in Emergent Biosolutions in the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $35,000. Raymond James Financial Inc. bought a new position in Emergent Biosolutions in the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $53,000. Janney Montgomery Scott LLC acquired a new stake in Emergent Biosolutions during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $68,000. Finally, ProShare Advisors LLC bought a new stake in Emergent Biosolutions during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $71,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 78.40% of the company’s stock.

About Emergent Biosolutions

Emergent BioSolutions Inc, a life sciences company, provides preparedness and response solutions for accidental, deliberate, and naturally occurring public health threats in the United States. The company offers NARCAN Nasal Spray for the emergency treatment of known or suspected opioid overdose; Vaxchora vaccine for the prevention of cholera; Vivotif vaccine for oral administration for the prevention of typhoid fever; Anthrasil for the treatment of inhalational anthrax; BioThrax, an anthrax vaccine; CYFENDUS for post-exposure prophylaxis of disease following suspected or confirmed exposure to Bacillus anthracis; and Raxibacumab injection for the treatment and prophylaxis of inhalational anthrax.