HC Wainwright Has Positive View of Verona Pharma Q1 Earnings

Verona Pharma plc (NASDAQ:VRNA) – Analysts at HC Wainwright raised their Q1 2025 EPS estimates for shares of Verona Pharma in a research report issued to clients and investors on Tuesday, January 21st. HC Wainwright analyst R. Selvaraju now forecasts that the company will post earnings of ($0.24) per share for the quarter, up from their prior estimate of ($0.40). HC Wainwright currently has a “Buy” rating and a $60.00 price target on the stock. The consensus estimate for Verona Pharma’s current full-year earnings is ($1.95) per share. HC Wainwright also issued estimates for Verona Pharma’s Q2 2025 earnings at ($0.08) EPS, Q3 2025 earnings at $0.08 EPS, Q4 2025 earnings at $0.16 EPS and FY2025 earnings at ($0.08) EPS.

Verona Pharma (NASDAQ:VRNA) last released its quarterly earnings data on Monday, November 4th. The company reported ($0.56) earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of ($0.44) by ($0.12). The company had revenue of $5.62 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.31 million. During the same period last year, the company earned ($0.18) EPS.

Several other equities analysts have also recently commented on VRNA. Canaccord Genuity Group boosted their target price on Verona Pharma from $37.00 to $44.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, November 5th. Roth Capital upgraded shares of Verona Pharma to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Friday, January 10th. Roth Mkm began coverage on shares of Verona Pharma in a research report on Friday, January 10th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $68.00 target price for the company. Wells Fargo & Company increased their target price on Verona Pharma from $64.00 to $74.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, January 8th. Finally, Truist Financial reiterated a “buy” rating and issued a $57.00 price objective (up from $44.00) on shares of Verona Pharma in a report on Wednesday, January 8th. Seven analysts have rated the stock with a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Buy” and an average target price of $53.14.

Verona Pharma Stock Down 1.1 %

Shares of NASDAQ VRNA opened at $54.08 on Thursday. The business has a 50-day simple moving average of $43.41 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $33.65. Verona Pharma has a 52 week low of $11.39 and a 52 week high of $55.91. The company has a market cap of $4.39 billion, a P/E ratio of -28.17 and a beta of 0.40. The company has a quick ratio of 12.88, a current ratio of 13.03 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.93.

Institutional Trading of Verona Pharma

Hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. EMC Capital Management increased its holdings in Verona Pharma by 3,400.0% in the 4th quarter. EMC Capital Management now owns 3,500 shares of the company’s stock worth $163,000 after acquiring an additional 3,400 shares in the last quarter. Shilanski & Associates Inc. bought a new position in Verona Pharma in the 4th quarter worth $305,000. Diversify Advisory Services LLC increased its stake in Verona Pharma by 5.2% in the 4th quarter. Diversify Advisory Services LLC now owns 6,166 shares of the company’s stock worth $279,000 after buying an additional 305 shares in the last quarter. Diversify Wealth Management LLC raised its holdings in Verona Pharma by 21.2% during the fourth quarter. Diversify Wealth Management LLC now owns 25,766 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,165,000 after acquiring an additional 4,512 shares during the period. Finally, Hennion & Walsh Asset Management Inc. lifted its position in shares of Verona Pharma by 24.3% in the fourth quarter. Hennion & Walsh Asset Management Inc. now owns 193,707 shares of the company’s stock valued at $8,996,000 after acquiring an additional 37,872 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 85.88% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity at Verona Pharma

In related news, CEO David Zaccardelli sold 46,888 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, November 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $4.38, for a total value of $205,369.44. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 15,298,896 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $67,009,164.48. This trade represents a 0.31 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, insider Kathleen A. Rickard sold 240,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, November 25th. The shares were sold at an average price of $4.90, for a total transaction of $1,176,000.00. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 2,671,480 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $13,090,252. This represents a 8.24 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders have sold 1,225,592 shares of company stock valued at $5,943,314. 4.80% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

About Verona Pharma

Verona Pharma plc, a clinical stage biopharmaceutical company, focuses on development and commercialization of therapies for the treatment of respiratory diseases with unmet medical needs. The company's product candidate is ensifentrine, an inhaled and dual inhibitor of the phosphodiesterase (PDE) 3 and PDE4 enzymes that acts as both a bronchodilator and an anti-inflammatory agent in a single compound, which is in Phase 3 clinical trials for the treatment of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, asthma, and cystic fibrosis.