Curis, Inc. (NASDAQ:CRIS) Sees Significant Decline in Short Interest

Curis, Inc. (NASDAQ:CRIS) was the recipient of a significant decline in short interest in August. As of August 31st, there was short interest totaling 168,213 shares, a decline of 48.1% from the August 15th total of 324,276 shares. Approximately 8.5% of the shares of the stock are short sold. Based on an average daily trading volume, of 177,225 shares, the short-interest ratio is presently 0.9 days.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

CRIS has been the subject of a number of research reports. Zacks Research upgraded Curis from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Wednesday, September 9th. Weiss Ratings reissued a “sell (e+)” rating on shares of Curis in a report on Friday, July 17th. HC Wainwright restated a “buy” rating on shares of Curis in a research report on Monday, August 17th. Finally, Wall Street Zen raised shares of Curis from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Saturday, August 22nd. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Buy rating, one has given a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $43.00.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in CRIS. Stonepine Capital Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Curis in the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $1,729,292,000. Nantahala Capital Management LLC bought a new stake in Curis during the second quarter worth $1,033,171,000. Cable Car Capital LP bought a new stake in Curis during the second quarter worth $696,000. Renaissance Technologies LLC lifted its stake in Curis by 52.2% in the first quarter. Renaissance Technologies LLC now owns 366,740 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $201,000 after acquiring an additional 125,823 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Flputnam Investment Management Co. acquired a new stake in Curis in the second quarter valued at $128,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 29.97% of the company’s stock.

Curis Stock Performance

CRIS stock traded up $0.01 during mid-day trading on Thursday, hitting $1.13. 49,258 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 123,216. Curis has a 1-year low of $1.07 and a 1-year high of $35.64. The firm’s 50 day simple moving average is $2.97 and its 200 day simple moving average is $8.61. The firm has a market cap of $2.36 million, a P/E ratio of -0.08 and a beta of 3.01.

Curis (NASDAQ:CRIS) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Friday, August 14th. The biotechnology company reported ($4.02) earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of ($6.95) by $2.93. Curis had a negative net margin of 80.29% and a negative return on equity of 2,365.94%. On average, equities research analysts predict that Curis will post -15.65 EPS for the current fiscal year.

About Curis

Curis, Inc is a biotechnology company focused on the discovery, development and commercialization of targeted small molecule and antibody therapeutics for the treatment of cancer. The company’s research centers on exploiting key signaling pathways and tumor microenvironment interactions to develop compounds with the potential to address unmet medical needs. Curis’ proprietary pipeline includes multiple programs at various stages of clinical and preclinical development, reflecting its emphasis on innovative oncology drug candidates.

Among Curis’ lead assets is CA-4948, an oral inhibitor of interleukin-1 receptor–associated kinase 4 (IRAK4) partnered with Ikena Oncology, which is being evaluated in hematologic malignancies and solid tumors.