ESSA Pharma Inc. (NASDAQ:EPIX) Sees Significant Growth in Short Interest

ESSA Pharma Inc. (NASDAQ:EPIX - Get Free Report) TSE: EPI was the target of a large growth in short interest in December. As of December 15th, there was short interest totalling 951,500 shares, a growth of 37.6% from the November 30th total of 691,500 shares. Based on an average daily volume of 874,500 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is currently 1.1 days.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several brokerages recently issued reports on EPIX. Piper Sandler lowered shares of ESSA Pharma from an "overweight" rating to a "neutral" rating and decreased their price target for the company from $15.00 to $2.00 in a report on Monday, November 4th. Oppenheimer lowered shares of ESSA Pharma from an "outperform" rating to a "market perform" rating in a report on Monday, November 4th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group lowered shares of ESSA Pharma from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Monday, November 4th.

ESSA Pharma Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ EPIX traded up $0.05 during midday trading on Monday, reaching $1.80. The stock had a trading volume of 1,860,430 shares, compared to its average volume of 307,796. The firm has a market cap of $79.90 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of -2.90 and a beta of 1.62. ESSA Pharma has a twelve month low of $1.40 and a twelve month high of $11.67. The company's 50 day moving average price is $2.31 and its 200 day moving average price is $4.38.

ESSA Pharma (NASDAQ:EPIX - Get Free Report) TSE: EPI last issued its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, December 17th. The company reported ($0.14) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of ($0.19) by $0.05. Equities analysts forecast that ESSA Pharma will post -0.7 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other ESSA Pharma news, major shareholder Growth N. V. Biotech sold 7,879,583 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Friday, November 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $1.53, for a total value of $12,055,761.99. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Corporate insiders own 14.70% of the company's stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

An institutional investor recently raised its position in ESSA Pharma stock. Parkman Healthcare Partners LLC lifted its position in ESSA Pharma Inc. (NASDAQ:EPIX - Free Report) TSE: EPI by 37.2% in the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 345,902 shares of the company's stock after acquiring an additional 93,830 shares during the quarter. Parkman Healthcare Partners LLC owned approximately 0.78% of ESSA Pharma worth $2,096,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period. 75.12% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

About ESSA Pharma

ESSA Pharma Inc, a clinical stage pharmaceutical company, focuses the development of small molecule drugs for the treatment of prostate cancer. The company's lead candidate EPI-7386, an androgen receptor based resistance mechanisms that develop in patients with castration-resistant prostate cancer and metastatic castration-resistant prostate cancer.