Esperion Therapeutics’ (ESPR) “Buy” Rating Reiterated at HC Wainwright

HC Wainwright restated their buy rating on shares of Esperion Therapeutics (NASDAQ:ESPR) in a report published on Friday morning, Benzinga reports. They currently have a $16.00 price objective on the biopharmaceutical company’s stock.

Several other analysts have also issued reports on the company. Bank of America lowered Esperion Therapeutics from a neutral rating to an underperform rating and cut their target price for the stock from $2.90 to $2.50 in a research note on Thursday, June 20th. Needham & Company LLC reaffirmed a buy rating and issued a $8.00 price objective on shares of Esperion Therapeutics in a research note on Tuesday, May 7th. Finally, StockNews.com cut shares of Esperion Therapeutics from a strong-buy rating to a buy rating in a research report on Friday, May 17th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have assigned a hold rating and three have issued a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of Hold and an average target price of $8.83.

Esperion Therapeutics Stock Performance

Esperion Therapeutics stock opened at $2.22 on Friday. Esperion Therapeutics has a fifty-two week low of $0.70 and a fifty-two week high of $3.40. The firm’s fifty day moving average price is $2.31 and its 200-day moving average price is $2.40. The stock has a market cap of $420.60 million, a P/E ratio of -2.24 and a beta of 1.00.

Esperion Therapeutics (NASDAQ:ESPR) last released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, May 7th. The biopharmaceutical company reported $0.34 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of ($0.08) by $0.42. The firm had revenue of $137.74 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $53.11 million. On average, analysts predict that Esperion Therapeutics will post -0.05 earnings per share for the current year.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Esperion Therapeutics

A number of hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the company. Bellevue Group AG grew its stake in shares of Esperion Therapeutics by 136.5% in the first quarter. Bellevue Group AG now owns 9,944,064 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock worth $26,650,000 after purchasing an additional 5,739,800 shares during the last quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its holdings in Esperion Therapeutics by 71.8% in the 1st quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 8,826,546 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock worth $23,655,000 after buying an additional 3,688,796 shares during the period. Armistice Capital LLC bought a new stake in shares of Esperion Therapeutics in the 4th quarter worth approximately $9,568,000. GSA Capital Partners LLP increased its stake in shares of Esperion Therapeutics by 159.1% during the third quarter. GSA Capital Partners LLP now owns 1,116,655 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $1,094,000 after buying an additional 685,733 shares during the period. Finally, Wasatch Advisors LP raised its holdings in shares of Esperion Therapeutics by 2.7% during the first quarter. Wasatch Advisors LP now owns 9,129,647 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $24,467,000 after acquiring an additional 238,544 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 47.39% of the company’s stock.

Esperion Therapeutics Company Profile

Esperion Therapeutics, Inc, a pharmaceutical company, develops and commercializes medicines for the treatment of patients with elevated low density lipoprotein cholesterol (LDL-C). Its marketed products include NEXLETOL (bempedoic acid) and NEXLIZET (bempedoic acid and ezetimibe) tablets that are oral, once-daily, non-statin medicines for the treatment of primary hyperlipidemia in adults with heterozygous familial hypercholesterolemia or atherosclerotic cardiovascular disease who require additional lowering of LDL-C.