89bio, Inc. (NASDAQ:ETNB) Receives Consensus Recommendation of “Buy” from Brokerages

89bio, Inc. (NASDAQ:ETNB) has received a consensus rating of “Buy” from the eight ratings firms that are covering the stock, Marketbeat.com reports. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, four have assigned a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the company. The average 1-year target price among brokers that have issued ratings on the stock in the last year is $26.43.

ETNB has been the topic of several research reports. Cantor Fitzgerald raised 89bio to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 30th. Weiss Ratings reiterated a “sell (d-)” rating on shares of 89bio in a report on Saturday, May 24th. Citigroup initiated coverage on 89bio in a report on Thursday, March 13th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $25.00 price target for the company. HC Wainwright reiterated a “buy” rating and issued a $21.00 price target (down from $29.00) on shares of 89bio in a report on Friday, February 28th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group initiated coverage on 89bio in a report on Friday, March 14th. They issued a “neutral” rating and a $11.00 price target for the company.

89bio Trading Up 2.9%

Shares of ETNB opened at $10.25 on Friday. The company has a current ratio of 11.66, a quick ratio of 11.66 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.09. The firm has a market capitalization of $1.50 billion, a P/E ratio of -3.52 and a beta of 1.30. The stock’s fifty day simple moving average is $7.65 and its 200 day simple moving average is $8.22. 89bio has a twelve month low of $4.16 and a twelve month high of $11.84.

89bio (NASDAQ:ETNB) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, May 1st. The company reported ($0.49) earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of ($0.50) by $0.01. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned ($0.54) earnings per share. On average, equities research analysts forecast that 89bio will post -3.19 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Activity

In other news, insider Quoc Le-Nguyen sold 15,329 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, April 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $5.95, for a total transaction of $91,207.55. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 328,323 shares in the company, valued at $1,953,521.85. This trade represents a 4.46% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Insiders own 2.80% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of 89bio

Several large investors have recently modified their holdings of the business. SG Americas Securities LLC grew its stake in 89bio by 18.3% in the fourth quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC now owns 36,325 shares of the company’s stock worth $284,000 after purchasing an additional 5,612 shares in the last quarter. Kingswood Wealth Advisors LLC acquired a new position in 89bio in the fourth quarter worth about $86,000. China Universal Asset Management Co. Ltd. grew its stake in 89bio by 22.4% in the fourth quarter. China Universal Asset Management Co. Ltd. now owns 24,932 shares of the company’s stock worth $195,000 after purchasing an additional 4,562 shares in the last quarter. Rhumbline Advisers grew its stake in 89bio by 3.3% in the fourth quarter. Rhumbline Advisers now owns 129,980 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,016,000 after purchasing an additional 4,125 shares in the last quarter. Finally, New York State Common Retirement Fund grew its stake in 89bio by 24.3% in the fourth quarter. New York State Common Retirement Fund now owns 16,367 shares of the company’s stock worth $128,000 after purchasing an additional 3,200 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.