Emergent BioSolutions (NYSE:EBS) Shares Gap Up on Analyst Upgrade

Emergent BioSolutions Inc. (NYSE:EBS - Get Free Report) shares gapped up before the market opened on Thursday after Benchmark raised their price target on the stock from $8.00 to $12.00. The stock had previously closed at $9.20, but opened at $11.43. Benchmark currently has a buy rating on the stock. Emergent BioSolutions shares last traded at $12.32, with a volume of 1,642,442 shares.

Separately, Rodman & Renshaw reiterated a "buy" rating and issued a $16.00 price objective on shares of Emergent BioSolutions in a research note on Friday, September 13th.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Emergent BioSolutions

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in EBS. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its position in Emergent BioSolutions by 14.7% during the first quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 3,411,549 shares of the biopharmaceutical company's stock worth $8,631,000 after buying an additional 436,911 shares during the period. Millennium Management LLC increased its position in Emergent BioSolutions by 5.8% during the second quarter. Millennium Management LLC now owns 946,302 shares of the biopharmaceutical company's stock worth $6,454,000 after buying an additional 52,144 shares during the period. American Century Companies Inc. increased its position in Emergent BioSolutions by 240.9% during the second quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 881,893 shares of the biopharmaceutical company's stock worth $6,015,000 after buying an additional 623,201 shares during the period. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. increased its position in Emergent BioSolutions by 74.5% during the third quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 741,552 shares of the biopharmaceutical company's stock worth $6,192,000 after buying an additional 316,700 shares during the period. Finally, Marshall Wace LLP increased its position in Emergent BioSolutions by 75.4% during the second quarter. Marshall Wace LLP now owns 542,813 shares of the biopharmaceutical company's stock worth $3,702,000 after buying an additional 233,341 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 78.40% of the company's stock.

Emergent BioSolutions Stock Performance

The company has a market cap of $582.01 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of -0.98 and a beta of 1.57. The firm has a 50-day simple moving average of $8.36 and a 200 day simple moving average of $7.67. The company has a quick ratio of 0.54, a current ratio of 1.06 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.16.

Emergent BioSolutions (NYSE:EBS - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, August 6th. The biopharmaceutical company reported ($2.32) EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of ($0.97) by ($1.35). The firm had revenue of $254.70 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $199.47 million. Emergent BioSolutions had a negative return on equity of 34.38% and a negative net margin of 53.26%. During the same period last year, the firm earned ($1.06) EPS. On average, sell-side analysts predict that Emergent BioSolutions Inc. will post -1.3 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Emergent BioSolutions Company Profile

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.