Esperion Therapeutics, Inc. (NASDAQ:ESPR) Sees Large Increase in Short Interest

Esperion Therapeutics, Inc. (NASDAQ:ESPR) was the target of a large growth in short interest in June. As of June 15th, there was short interest totalling 24,890,000 shares, a growth of 13.7% from the May 31st total of 21,890,000 shares. Based on an average daily trading volume, of 8,420,000 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is presently 3.0 days. Approximately 16.1% of the shares of the stock are sold short.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research firms have weighed in on ESPR. HC Wainwright restated a “buy” rating and set a $16.00 price target on shares of Esperion Therapeutics in a report on Friday, June 28th. StockNews.com cut Esperion Therapeutics from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, May 17th. Bank of America cut Esperion Therapeutics from a “neutral” rating to an “underperform” rating and cut their price target for the company from $2.90 to $2.50 in a report on Thursday, June 20th. Finally, Needham & Company LLC restated a “buy” rating and set a $8.00 price target on shares of Esperion Therapeutics in a report on Friday, June 28th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have assigned a hold rating and three have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $8.83.

Esperion Therapeutics Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:ESPR traded up $0.01 during trading on Wednesday, hitting $2.35. The company had a trading volume of 2,091,661 shares, compared to its average volume of 7,572,310. The stock has a market cap of $445.23 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of -2.36 and a beta of 1.02. Esperion Therapeutics has a one year low of $0.70 and a one year high of $3.40. The company has a fifty day simple moving average of $2.33 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $2.41.

Esperion Therapeutics (NASDAQ:ESPR) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, May 7th. The biopharmaceutical company reported $0.34 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of ($0.08) by $0.42. The company had revenue of $137.74 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $53.11 million. On average, equities research analysts anticipate that Esperion Therapeutics will post -0.05 earnings per share for the current year.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Esperion Therapeutics

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the business. Armistice Capital LLC bought a new stake in shares of Esperion Therapeutics during the 4th quarter worth approximately $9,568,000. Connor Clark & Lunn Investment Management Ltd. lifted its stake in shares of Esperion Therapeutics by 120.1% during the 3rd quarter. Connor Clark & Lunn Investment Management Ltd. now owns 413,704 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock worth $405,000 after acquiring an additional 225,767 shares during the last quarter. Jump Financial LLC bought a new stake in shares of Esperion Therapeutics during the 4th quarter worth approximately $77,000. GSA Capital Partners LLP lifted its stake in shares of Esperion Therapeutics by 159.1% during the 3rd quarter. GSA Capital Partners LLP now owns 1,116,655 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock worth $1,094,000 after acquiring an additional 685,733 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Spire Wealth Management lifted its stake in shares of Esperion Therapeutics by 69.2% during the 4th quarter. Spire Wealth Management now owns 17,767 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock worth $53,000 after acquiring an additional 7,267 shares during the last quarter. 47.39% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

About Esperion Therapeutics

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.