Verrica Pharmaceuticals Inc. Sees Notable Decrease in Short Interest

Verrica Pharmaceuticals Inc. (NASDAQ:VRCA) experienced a considerable decline in short interest during December. By December 15th, the short interest totaled 2,000,000 shares, marking a significant decrease of 34.2% from the 3,040,000 shares recorded on November 30th. Given the average trading volume of 891,600 shares, the current days-to-cover ratio stands at 2.2 days.

Analyst Ratings Updates

Various equity research analysts have provided updates on Verrica Pharmaceuticals recently. On October 21st, TD Cowen lowered their price target from $15.00 to $10.00 while maintaining a “buy” rating. Meanwhile, Brookline Capital Management reiterated a “hold” rating on October 2nd. On November 6th, HC Wainwright changed their rating for Verrica from “buy” to “neutral.” Earlier, on November 5th, the Royal Bank of Canada downgraded the stock from “outperform” to “sector perform,” dropping their price target from $11.00 to $2.00. Moreover, Needham & Company LLC reaffirmed a “hold” rating in a report dated December 20th. Currently, four analysts have given the stock a hold rating, whereas one has issued a buy rating. MarketBeat.com indicates that the average rating for the company stands at “Hold” with a target price of $9.50.

Institutional Investment Trends

Recently, several large investors have modified their positions in Verrica Pharmaceuticals. In the second quarter, Simplify Asset Management Inc. invested $2,041,000 in the stock. Meanwhile, XTX Topco Ltd added a new position valued at approximately $335,000 in the third quarter. Verition Fund Management LLC also acquired shares worth about $89,000 in the same quarter. State Street Corp increased its stake by 13.5%, owning 512,821 shares valued at approximately $744,000 after adding 61,041 more shares. Additionally, Sanctuary Advisors LLC purchased a new stake valued at roughly $87,000. Institutional investors currently hold about 42.45% of the stock.

Stock Performance Overview

As of the latest trading day, Verrica Pharmaceuticals shares opened at $0.70. The stock has experienced a 52-week low of $0.61 and a high of $11.41. The company has a market cap of $31.92 million, a price-to-earnings (P/E) ratio of -0.38, and a beta value of 1.40. Its debt-to-equity ratio is notably high at 29.58, with a quick ratio of 1.22 and a current ratio of 1.34. The fifty-day moving average of the stock is $1.03, while the two-hundred-day moving average stands at $3.24.

Verrica Pharmaceuticals last released its quarterly earnings data on November 4th, reporting an earnings per share of ($0.49) for the quarter, which fell short of the consensus estimate of ($0.37) by $0.12. The company reported a negative net margin of 625.06% and a concerning negative return on equity of 591.84%. For the quarter, revenue was recorded at ($1.78) million, significantly less than the analyst estimates of $7.53 million. Analysts project that Verrica Pharmaceuticals will report earnings per share of -1.42 for the current fiscal year.

Company Overview

Verrica Pharmaceuticals Inc. specializes in clinical-stage dermatology therapeutics, developing treatments for skin diseases in the United States. The company’s product pipeline includes YCANTH (VP-102), which is currently in phase III clinical trials for treating common warts and has completed phase II trials for external genital warts.

Verrica, Pharmaceuticals, Stocks