Verrica Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:VRCA) Cut to “Sector Perform” at Royal Bank of Canada

Royal Bank of Canada downgraded shares of Verrica Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:VRCA) from an outperform rating to a sector perform rating in a research note released on Tuesday morning, MarketBeat reports. They currently have $2.00 target price on the stock, down from their previous target price of $11.00.

Other equities analysts also recently issued research reports about the company. Needham & Company LLC reaffirmed a “hold” rating and set a $12.00 price target on shares of Verrica Pharmaceuticals in a research report on Thursday, October 3rd. TD Cowen reduced their target price on shares of Verrica Pharmaceuticals from $15.00 to $10.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Monday, October 21st. Finally, Brookline Capital Management reiterated a “hold” rating on shares of Verrica Pharmaceuticals in a research note on Wednesday, October 2nd. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and two have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Verrica Pharmaceuticals presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $9.60.

Verrica Pharmaceuticals Trading Down 5.6 %

Shares of NASDAQ:VRCA opened at $0.70 on Tuesday. The firm has a market cap of $30.05 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of -0.38 and a beta of 1.45. Verrica Pharmaceuticals has a 12 month low of $0.70 and a 12 month high of $11.41. The company’s fifty day simple moving average is $1.61 and its 200 day simple moving average is $5.11. The company has a quick ratio of 2.23, a current ratio of 2.36 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 29.58.

Verrica Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:VRCA) last released its quarterly earnings results on Monday, November 4th. The company reported ($0.49) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of ($0.37) by ($0.12). The firm had revenue of ($1.78) million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $7.53 million. Verrica Pharmaceuticals had a negative net margin of 625.06% and a negative return on equity of 3,102.90%. As a group, research analysts forecast that Verrica Pharmaceuticals will post -1.5 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Verrica Pharmaceuticals

Several large investors have recently made changes to their positions in VRCA. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its position in Verrica Pharmaceuticals by 0.6% during the first quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 1,268,710 shares of the company’s stock worth $7,511,000 after acquiring an additional 7,609 shares in the last quarter. Simplify Asset Management Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Verrica Pharmaceuticals in the 2nd quarter valued at about $2,041,000. Bank of New York Mellon Corp lifted its stake in Verrica Pharmaceuticals by 8.1% in the 2nd quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 58,680 shares of the company’s stock valued at $428,000 after purchasing an additional 4,393 shares during the last quarter. Renaissance Technologies LLC acquired a new stake in Verrica Pharmaceuticals in the 2nd quarter valued at about $332,000. Finally, Rhumbline Advisers grew its holdings in Verrica Pharmaceuticals by 20.4% during the second quarter. Rhumbline Advisers now owns 26,591 shares of the company’s stock worth $194,000 after purchasing an additional 4,514 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 42.45% of the company’s stock.

Verrica Pharmaceuticals Company Profile

Verrica Pharmaceuticals Inc, a clinical-stage dermatology therapeutics company, develops medications for the treatment of skin diseases in the United States. Its product pipeline comprises YCANTH (VP-102), which is in phase III clinical trial for the treatment of common warts; and has completed phase II clinical trial for the treatment of external genital warts.