Amphastar Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMPH) Receives $29.50 Average PT from Brokerages

Amphastar Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMPH) has earned a consensus recommendation of “Hold” from the eight ratings firms that are presently covering the firm, Marketbeat.com reports. Six investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold recommendation and two have given a buy recommendation to the company. The average 1 year price target among brokerages that have covered the stock in the last year is $29.50.

Several equities research analysts recently commented on the company. Barclays began coverage on Amphastar Pharmaceuticals in a research report on Tuesday, December 9th. They set an “equal weight” rating and a $30.00 price objective on the stock. Weiss Ratings restated a “hold (c-)” rating on shares of Amphastar Pharmaceuticals in a research note on Monday, December 29th. Wells Fargo & Company dropped their price target on shares of Amphastar Pharmaceuticals from $34.00 to $30.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, February 27th. Finally, Needham & Company LLC reduced their price target on shares of Amphastar Pharmaceuticals from $34.00 to $30.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, February 27th.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Amphastar Pharmaceuticals

Large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. New York State Common Retirement Fund grew its stake in shares of Amphastar Pharmaceuticals by 86.4% during the 3rd quarter. New York State Common Retirement Fund now owns 90,169 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,403,000 after purchasing an additional 41,800 shares during the period. Capital Fund Management S.A. bought a new position in shares of Amphastar Pharmaceuticals in the 2nd quarter worth approximately $931,000. Rice Hall James & Associates LLC purchased a new position in shares of Amphastar Pharmaceuticals in the third quarter worth approximately $3,447,000. SummerHaven Investment Management LLC purchased a new position in shares of Amphastar Pharmaceuticals in the third quarter worth approximately $1,018,000. Finally, Quantbot Technologies LP grew its position in Amphastar Pharmaceuticals by 188.8% during the second quarter. Quantbot Technologies LP now owns 60,955 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,400,000 after buying an additional 39,846 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 65.09% of the company’s stock.

Amphastar Pharmaceuticals Stock Performance

AMPH stock opened at $19.51 on Friday. The stock’s 50 day simple moving average is $24.96 and its 200 day simple moving average is $25.89. The company has a current ratio of 4.02, a quick ratio of 2.90 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.77. Amphastar Pharmaceuticals has a 12-month low of $17.03 and a 12-month high of $31.26. The stock has a market capitalization of $885.17 million, a PE ratio of 9.61, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.63 and a beta of 0.93.

Amphastar Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:AMPH) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, February 26th. The company reported $0.73 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.97 by ($0.24). Amphastar Pharmaceuticals had a return on equity of 17.58% and a net margin of 13.63%.The business had revenue of $183.11 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $190.48 million. As a group, research analysts forecast that Amphastar Pharmaceuticals will post 3.49 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

About Amphastar Pharmaceuticals

Amphastar Pharmaceuticals, Inc is a specialty pharmaceutical company headquartered in Rancho Cucamonga, California. Founded in 2004, Amphastar focuses on the development, manufacturing and commercialization of injectable and inhalation products. The company’s manufacturing facilities in California produce both generic and proprietary formulations designed to address urgent and chronic medical conditions.

Amphastar’s portfolio includes a range of injectable generics such as epinephrine, naloxone and lidocaine, serving hospital, emergency medical and retail pharmacy channels.