Verrica Pharmaceuticals Inc. (NASDAQ:VRCA) Sees Significant Drop in Short Interest

Verrica Pharmaceuticals Inc. (NASDAQ:VRCA) was the target of a significant decrease in short interest during the month of November. As of November 30th, there was short interest totalling 3,040,000 shares, a decrease of 32.6% from the November 15th total of 4,510,000 shares. Based on an average trading volume of 869,000 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is presently 3.5 days.

Verrica Pharmaceuticals Price Performance

Verrica Pharmaceuticals stock opened at $0.80 on Friday. The company has a current ratio of 1.34, a quick ratio of 1.22 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 29.58. The company has a 50-day moving average price of $1.19 and a 200 day moving average price of $3.92. Verrica Pharmaceuticals has a 12-month low of $0.70 and a 12-month high of $11.41. The stock has a market cap of $36.60 million, a P/E ratio of -0.44 and a beta of 1.40.

Verrica Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:VRCA) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Monday, November 4th. The company reported ($0.49) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of ($0.37) by ($0.12). Verrica Pharmaceuticals had a negative return on equity of 591.84% and a negative net margin of 625.06%. The firm had revenue of ($1.78) million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $7.53 million. Sell-side analysts anticipate that Verrica Pharmaceuticals will post -1.42 earnings per share for the current year.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Verrica Pharmaceuticals

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Sanctuary Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Verrica Pharmaceuticals during the 3rd quarter worth about $87,000. Barclays PLC boosted its stake in Verrica Pharmaceuticals by 404.6% during the third quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 31,341 shares of the company’s stock worth $45,000 after buying an additional 25,130 shares during the period. XTX Topco Ltd acquired a new stake in shares of Verrica Pharmaceuticals during the third quarter valued at about $335,000. Jane Street Group LLC raised its stake in shares of Verrica Pharmaceuticals by 106.5% in the 3rd quarter. Jane Street Group LLC now owns 69,872 shares of the company’s stock valued at $101,000 after acquiring an additional 36,028 shares during the period. Finally, State Street Corp lifted its holdings in shares of Verrica Pharmaceuticals by 13.5% in the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 512,821 shares of the company’s stock worth $744,000 after acquiring an additional 61,041 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 42.45% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of brokerages have recently issued reports on VRCA. Needham & Company LLC reaffirmed a “hold” rating on shares of Verrica Pharmaceuticals in a research note on Tuesday, November 5th. Royal Bank of Canada lowered shares of Verrica Pharmaceuticals from an “outperform” rating to a “sector perform” rating and dropped their target price for the stock from $11.00 to $2.00 in a report on Tuesday, November 5th. Brookline Capital Management reiterated a “hold” rating on shares of Verrica Pharmaceuticals in a research report on Wednesday, October 2nd. TD Cowen lowered their price target on shares of Verrica Pharmaceuticals from $15.00 to $10.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, October 21st. Finally, HC Wainwright downgraded shares of Verrica Pharmaceuticals from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating in a report on Wednesday, November 6th. Four analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and two have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Verrica Pharmaceuticals currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $9.60.

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.