Verrica Pharmaceuticals Inc. (NASDAQ:VRCA) Short Interest Update

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

Analysts Set New Price Targets

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

Verrica Pharmaceuticals Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ VRCA opened at $1.68 on Wednesday. The company has a 50 day moving average of $1.81 and a 200 day moving average of $5.37. The company has a quick ratio of 2.23, a current ratio of 2.36 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 29.58. Verrica Pharmaceuticals has a twelve month low of $1.04 and a twelve month high of $11.41. The firm has a market cap of $71.27 million, a P/E ratio of -0.96 and a beta of 1.45.

Verrica Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:VRCA) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, August 14th. The company reported ($0.37) EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of ($0.43) by $0.06. Verrica Pharmaceuticals had a negative return on equity of 591.84% and a negative net margin of 625.06%. The company had revenue of $5.18 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $4.70 million. As a group, research analysts expect that Verrica Pharmaceuticals will post -1.5 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Institutional Trading of Verrica Pharmaceuticals

A number of institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Quest Partners LLC purchased a new stake in Verrica Pharmaceuticals in the second quarter worth approximately $50,000. Key Financial Inc purchased a new position in shares of Verrica Pharmaceuticals in the 2nd quarter worth $69,000. Rhumbline Advisers grew its holdings in shares of 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 acquiring an additional 4,514 shares during the period. Renaissance Technologies LLC purchased a new stake in Verrica Pharmaceuticals during the second quarter valued at $332,000. Finally, Bank of New York Mellon Corp lifted its holdings in Verrica Pharmaceuticals by 8.1% in the second quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 58,680 shares of the company’s stock valued at $428,000 after acquiring an additional 4,393 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 42.45% of the company’s stock.

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.