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

Curis, Inc. (NASDAQ:CRIS) was the target of a significant increase in short interest in October. As of October 15th, there was short interest totaling 439,270 shares, an increase of 144.8% from the September 30th total of 179,462 shares. Based on an average daily trading volume, of 224,716 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is presently 2.0 days. Currently, 22.3% of the company’s stock are sold short.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Curis

Large investors have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Stonepine Capital Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of Curis in the second quarter worth $1,729,292,000. Nantahala Capital Management LLC bought a new position in shares of Curis in the second quarter valued at $1,033,171,000. Cable Car Capital LP acquired a new stake in Curis in the second quarter valued at $696,000. Flputnam Investment Management Co. bought a new position in Curis during the second quarter worth about $128,000. Finally, Renaissance Technologies LLC raised its position in shares of 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 purchasing an additional 125,823 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 29.97% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

CRIS has been the subject of several research analyst reports. HC Wainwright reiterated a “buy” rating on shares of Curis in a research note on Monday, August 17th. Wall Street Zen upgraded Curis from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Saturday, August 22nd. Zacks Research raised Curis from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Wednesday, September 9th. Finally, Weiss Ratings restated a “sell (e+)” rating on shares of Curis in a research report on Thursday, October 15th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Buy rating, one has issued a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Curis has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $43.00.

Curis Trading Down 10.1%

CRIS traded down $0.06 during midday trading on Friday, reaching $0.49. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 399,171 shares, compared to its average volume of 171,834. The company has a fifty day simple moving average of $0.94 and a 200 day simple moving average of $9.19. The stock has a market cap of $1.03 million, a P/E ratio of -0.03 and a beta of 3.11. Curis has a twelve month low of $0.33 and a twelve month high of $31.80.

Curis (NASDAQ:CRIS) last released its quarterly earnings data on Friday, August 14th. The biotechnology company reported ($4.02) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of ($6.95) by $2.93. Sell-side analysts expect that Curis will post -15.65 earnings per share for the current year.

About Curis

Curis, Inc is a clinical-stage biotechnology company focused on developing innovative therapeutics for the treatment of cancer. The company’s research and development activities center on targeted therapies designed to address biological pathways involved in tumor growth and immune regulation.

Curis’ lead investigational product is emavusertib, an oral inhibitor of interleukin-1 receptor-associated kinase 4 (IRAK4). The company has evaluated emavusertib in clinical studies for hematologic malignancies, including acute myeloid leukemia, myelodysplastic syndromes and certain forms of non-Hodgkin lymphoma.