Citigroup Begins Coverage on 89bio (NASDAQ:ETNB)

Citigroup assumed coverage on shares of 89bio (NASDAQ:ETNB) in a report released on Thursday morning, Marketbeat reports. The brokerage issued a buy rating and a $25.00 target price on the stock.

Other analysts have also issued reports about the company. UBS Group boosted their price objective on 89bio from $25.00 to $38.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, January 31st. Raymond James raised 89bio to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Thursday, December 12th. HC Wainwright reaffirmed a “buy” rating and issued a $21.00 target price (down from $29.00) on shares of 89bio in a report on Friday, February 28th. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “sell (d-)” rating on shares of 89bio in a report on Friday, March 7th. Finally, Wolfe Research assumed coverage on 89bio in a report on Tuesday, February 4th. They issued an “outperform” rating for the company. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, seven have issued a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, 89bio currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $27.56.

89bio Stock Performance

Shares of ETNB opened at $8.47 on Thursday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.09, a quick ratio of 11.66 and a current ratio of 11.66. The stock has a 50 day moving average price of $8.80 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $8.44. The firm has a market capitalization of $1.24 billion, a P/E ratio of -2.91 and a beta of 1.17. 89bio has a 52 week low of $5.99 and a 52 week high of $13.71.

89bio (NASDAQ:ETNB) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, March 6th. The company reported ($1.02) EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of ($0.60) by ($0.42). Equities analysts forecast that 89bio will post -3.19 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity at 89bio

In related news, insider Quoc Le-Nguyen sold 10,963 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, January 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $6.49, for a total value of $71,149.87. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 271,833 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,764,196.17. This represents a 3.88 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, Director Charles Mcwherter bought 5,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, January 21st. The shares were bought at an average price of $6.55 per share, for a total transaction of $32,750.00. Following the transaction, the director now owns 15,000 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $98,250. This represents a 50.00 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. 2.80% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On 89bio

Several institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in ETNB. Quest Partners LLC lifted its position in shares of 89bio by 172.1% during the third quarter. Quest Partners LLC now owns 22,074 shares of the company’s stock worth $163,000 after acquiring an additional 13,961 shares in the last quarter. Intech Investment Management LLC purchased a new stake in shares of 89bio during the third quarter worth $160,000. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. lifted its position in shares of 89bio by 8.1% during the third quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 721,050 shares of the company’s stock worth $5,336,000 after acquiring an additional 53,932 shares in the last quarter. Algert Global LLC raised its position in shares of 89bio by 103.4% in the third quarter. Algert Global LLC now owns 62,217 shares of the company’s stock worth $460,000 after buying an additional 31,630 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Westfield Capital Management Co. LP raised its position in shares of 89bio by 29.6% in the third quarter. Westfield Capital Management Co. LP now owns 3,006,038 shares of the company’s stock worth $22,245,000 after buying an additional 686,673 shares in the last quarter.

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.