89bio, Inc. (NASDAQ:ETNB) Sees Significant Decline in Short Interest

89bio, Inc. (NASDAQ:ETNB) was the recipient of a large drop in short interest in September. As of September 30th, there was short interest totalling 6,450,000 shares, a drop of 7.1% from the September 15th total of 6,940,000 shares. Based on an average daily volume of 616,600 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is currently 10.5 days.

Institutional Trading of 89bio

Several large investors have recently made changes to their positions in ETNB. Quest Partners LLC increased its position in 89bio by 226.2% in the 2nd quarter. Quest Partners LLC now owns 8,113 shares of the company’s stock valued at $65,000 after acquiring an additional 5,626 shares in the last quarter. Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. bought a new stake in 89bio during the 2nd quarter worth about $66,000. Ameritas Investment Partners Inc. lifted its position in 89bio by 28.4% during the 1st quarter. Ameritas Investment Partners Inc. now owns 7,886 shares of the company’s stock valued at $92,000 after purchasing an additional 1,744 shares during the period. Principal Financial Group Inc. bought a new position in 89bio in the first quarter valued at approximately $124,000. Finally, Chicago Partners Investment Group LLC grew its holdings in 89bio by 43.6% during the 4th quarter. Chicago Partners Investment Group LLC now owns 15,388 shares of the company’s stock worth $158,000 after acquiring an additional 4,673 shares during the period.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

ETNB has been the subject of a number of recent analyst reports. Cantor Fitzgerald reaffirmed an “overweight” rating and issued a $29.00 price objective on shares of 89bio in a research note on Friday, September 20th. Royal Bank of Canada dropped their price target on 89bio from $13.00 to $12.00 and set a “sector perform” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, August 6th. Raymond James lifted their target price on 89bio from $50.00 to $53.00 and gave the company a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, August 6th. Finally, HC Wainwright reissued a “buy” rating and issued a $29.00 price target on shares of 89bio in a research report on Tuesday, August 6th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, four have issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, 89bio has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $31.00.

89bio Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ ETNB traded down $0.35 during mid-day trading on Thursday, hitting $8.26. The company had a trading volume of 366,855 shares, compared to its average volume of 961,611. The business’s 50-day simple moving average is $8.15 and its 200-day simple moving average is $8.57. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.04, a current ratio of 13.92 and a quick ratio of 13.92. 89bio has a 12 month low of $6.57 and a 12 month high of $16.63. The firm has a market cap of $812.65 million, a P/E ratio of -4.28 and a beta of 1.09.

89bio (NASDAQ:ETNB) last posted its earnings results on Monday, August 5th. The company reported ($0.48) earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of ($0.56) by $0.08. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted ($0.52) earnings per share. As a group, analysts predict that 89bio will post -2.32 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

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.