Short Interest in 89bio, Inc. (NASDAQ:ETNB) Expands By 5.2%

89bio, Inc. (NASDAQ:ETNB - Get Free Report) was the target of a large growth in short interest during the month of August. As of August 15th, there was short interest totalling 6,840,000 shares, a growth of 5.2% from the July 31st total of 6,500,000 shares. Based on an average trading volume of 954,000 shares, the short-interest ratio is currently 7.2 days.

Institutional Trading of 89bio

A number of institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Dynamic Technology Lab Private Ltd boosted its position in 89bio by 104.9% during the fourth quarter. Dynamic Technology Lab Private Ltd now owns 38,545 shares of the company's stock worth $431,000 after acquiring an additional 19,730 shares during the last quarter. RTW Investments LP purchased a new stake in shares of 89bio in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $62,317,000. Westfield Capital Management Co. LP increased its holdings in shares of 89bio by 34.2% in the fourth quarter. Westfield Capital Management Co. LP now owns 1,761,148 shares of the company's stock valued at $19,672,000 after purchasing an additional 449,262 shares during the last quarter. Monashee Investment Management LLC purchased a new position in shares of 89bio during the 4th quarter worth $1,564,000. Finally, Capstone Investment Advisors LLC purchased a new position in 89bio during the first quarter worth about $1,208,000.

89bio Price Performance

ETNB traded down $0.72 during trading on Tuesday, hitting $8.78. The company's stock had a trading volume of 540,857 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,034,189. 89bio has a twelve month low of $6.57 and a twelve month high of $18.25. The firm has a market capitalization of $863.78 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of -4.73 and a beta of 1.10. The company has a current ratio of 13.92, a quick ratio of 13.92 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.04. The business's fifty day simple moving average is $8.47 and its 200 day simple moving average is $9.42.

89bio (NASDAQ:ETNB - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Monday, August 5th. The company reported ($0.48) earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of ($0.56) by $0.08. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned ($0.52) earnings per share. On average, equities research analysts forecast that 89bio will post -2.32 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research analysts recently issued reports on the stock. Cantor Fitzgerald restated an "overweight" rating and set a $29.00 target price on shares of 89bio in a research report on Monday, July 1st. HC Wainwright restated a "buy" rating and issued a $29.00 target price on shares of 89bio in a research note on Tuesday, August 6th. Evercore ISI reduced their price target on 89bio from $37.00 to $33.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, May 15th. Raymond James boosted their price target on 89bio from $50.00 to $53.00 and gave the company a "strong-buy" rating in a report on Tuesday, August 6th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada dropped their price objective on shares of 89bio from $13.00 to $12.00 and set a "sector perform" rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, August 6th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, five have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, 89bio currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $30.14.

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.