Short Interest in Verrica Pharmaceuticals Inc. (NASDAQ:VRCA) Increases By 24.8%

Verrica Pharmaceuticals Inc. (NASDAQ:VRCA) was the recipient of a large increase in short interest during the month of October. As of October 15th, there was short interest totalling 4,530,000 shares, an increase of 24.8% from the September 30th total of 3,630,000 shares. Currently, 17.4% of the shares of the company are sold short. Based on an average daily volume of 964,300 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is presently 4.7 days.

Institutional Trading of Verrica Pharmaceuticals

Several hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of VRCA. Bank of New York Mellon Corp boosted its holdings in shares of Verrica Pharmaceuticals by 8.1% in the 2nd quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 58,680 shares of the company’s stock worth $428,000 after acquiring an additional 4,393 shares in the last quarter. Rhumbline Advisers boosted its stake in Verrica Pharmaceuticals by 20.4% in the second quarter. Rhumbline Advisers now owns 26,591 shares of the company’s stock worth $194,000 after purchasing an additional 4,514 shares in the last quarter. Quest Partners LLC bought a new stake in shares of Verrica Pharmaceuticals during the second quarter worth $50,000. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its stake in shares of Verrica Pharmaceuticals by 0.6% in the first quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 1,268,710 shares of the company’s stock valued at $7,511,000 after buying an additional 7,609 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Key Financial Inc bought a new position in shares of Verrica Pharmaceuticals in the second quarter valued at about $69,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 42.45% of the company’s stock.

Verrica Pharmaceuticals Stock Performance

NASDAQ:VRCA traded up $0.06 during trading hours on Monday, reaching $1.57. The company had a trading volume of 280,859 shares, compared to its average volume of 434,240. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 29.58, a quick ratio of 2.23 and a current ratio of 2.36. The stock has a 50-day moving average of $1.86 and a two-hundred day moving average of $5.44. Verrica Pharmaceuticals has a one year low of $1.04 and a one year high of $11.41.

Verrica Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:VRCA) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, August 14th. The company reported ($0.37) earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of ($0.43) by $0.06. Verrica Pharmaceuticals had a negative net margin of 625.06% and a negative return on equity of 591.84%. The business had revenue of $5.18 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $4.70 million. As a group, research analysts predict that Verrica Pharmaceuticals will post -1.5 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

VRCA has been the topic of several research reports. Royal Bank of Canada dropped their price objective on shares of Verrica Pharmaceuticals from $13.00 to $11.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, October 4th. TD Cowen lowered their price target on Verrica Pharmaceuticals from $15.00 to $10.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, October 21st. Brookline Capital Management reiterated a “hold” rating on shares of Verrica Pharmaceuticals in a research report on Wednesday, October 2nd. Finally, Needham & Company LLC restated a “hold” rating and set a $12.00 price objective on shares of Verrica Pharmaceuticals in a research report on Thursday, October 3rd. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and four have given a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $11.40.

About Verrica Pharmaceuticals

Verrica Pharmaceuticals Inc, a clinical-stage dermatology therapeutics company, develops medications for the treatment of skin diseases in the United States. Its product pipeline comprises YCANTH (VP-102), which is in phase III clinical trial for the treatment of common warts; and has completed phase II clinical trial for the treatment of external genital warts.