Emergent Biosolutions Inc. (NYSE:EBS) Given Average Recommendation of “Hold” by Analysts

Emergent Biosolutions Inc. (NYSE:EBS) has received an average rating of “Hold” from the six analysts that are presently covering the firm, MarketBeat reports. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, one has given a hold rating and three have given a buy rating to the company. The average 12-month price objective among brokerages that have updated their coverage on the stock in the last year is $10.00.

Several equities analysts recently issued reports on EBS shares. HC Wainwright restated a “buy” rating and set a $10.00 price target on shares of Emergent Biosolutions in a research report on Wednesday, September 9th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. initiated coverage on Emergent Biosolutions in a research report on Friday, August 21st. They issued an “underweight” rating for the company. UBS Group reissued a “buy” rating on shares of Emergent Biosolutions in a research note on Tuesday, June 2nd. Zacks Research upgraded shares of Emergent Biosolutions to a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday, August 11th. Finally, Weiss Ratings raised shares of Emergent Biosolutions from a “sell (d-)” rating to a “sell (d)” rating in a research note on Friday, August 21st.

Emergent Biosolutions Stock Performance

Emergent Biosolutions stock opened at $6.76 on Thursday. The company has a quick ratio of 2.95, a current ratio of 5.42 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.70. The company has a market capitalization of $346.79 million, a PE ratio of -1.91 and a beta of 2.34. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $6.35 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $7.63. Emergent Biosolutions has a twelve month low of $4.36 and a twelve month high of $14.06.

Emergent Biosolutions (NYSE:EBS) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, August 5th. The biopharmaceutical company reported $0.60 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of ($0.08) by $0.68. The firm had revenue of $234.30 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $177.50 million. Emergent Biosolutions had a positive return on equity of 16.35% and a negative net margin of 22.95%. Research analysts expect that Emergent Biosolutions will post 0.13 EPS for the current year.

Insider Transactions at Emergent Biosolutions

In related news, SVP Paul Williams sold 3,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, July 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $8.40, for a total transaction of $25,200.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president owned 159,098 shares in the company, valued at $1,336,423.20. This represents a 1.85% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. 6.00% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Trading of Emergent Biosolutions

Several large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in EBS. BlackRock Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Emergent Biosolutions in the second quarter worth about $39,525,000. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP grew its position in Emergent Biosolutions by 22.4% in the 1st quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 2,757,158 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $22,884,000 after acquiring an additional 504,553 shares during the last quarter. Ancora Advisors LLC purchased a new position in Emergent Biosolutions in the 2nd quarter worth about $8,949,000. LSV Asset Management increased its position in shares of Emergent Biosolutions by 4.2% during the fourth quarter. LSV Asset Management now owns 901,000 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock worth $11,136,000 after acquiring an additional 36,500 shares during the period. Finally, Renaissance Technologies LLC raised its position in Emergent Biosolutions by 13.7% during the 1st quarter. Renaissance Technologies LLC now owns 656,047 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $5,445,000 after purchasing an additional 78,900 shares in the last quarter. 78.40% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Emergent Biosolutions Company Profile

Emergent BioSolutions Inc is a life sciences company focused on developing, manufacturing and supplying medical countermeasures and other products intended to address public health threats. Its activities include vaccines, therapeutics and treatments for infectious diseases, overdoses and other emergency health situations, as well as contract development and manufacturing services for pharmaceutical and biotechnology companies.

The company’s portfolio has included BioThrax, an anthrax vaccine, and ACAM2000, a smallpox vaccine supplied primarily for preparedness programs.