Verona Pharma (NASDAQ:VRNA) Announces Earnings Results, Misses Expectations By $0.12 EPS

Verona Pharma (NASDAQ:VRNA) issued its earnings results on Monday. The company reported ($0.56) EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of ($0.44) by ($0.12), Zacks reports. The business had revenue of $5.62 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.31 million. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned ($0.18) EPS.

Verona Pharma Price Performance

Shares of Verona Pharma stock opened at $38.15 on Tuesday. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $30.84 and a 200-day simple moving average of $22.33. The company has a current ratio of 8.61, a quick ratio of 8.61 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.72. Verona Pharma has a 1-year low of $11.39 and a 1-year high of $39.38. The stock has a market capitalization of $3.10 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -24.77 and a beta of 0.42.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Verona Pharma news, CFO Mark W. Hahn sold 249,728 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, October 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $4.38, for a total transaction of $1,093,808.64. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 14,089,960 shares in the company, valued at $61,714,024.80. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. In other Verona Pharma news, CEO David Zaccardelli sold 110,456 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, October 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $4.38, for a total value of $483,797.28. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 14,894,464 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $65,237,752.32. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, CFO Mark W. Hahn sold 249,728 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, October 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $4.38, for a total transaction of $1,093,808.64. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer now owns 14,089,960 shares in the company, valued at approximately $61,714,024.80. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders sold 868,840 shares of company stock valued at $3,805,519. Company insiders own 4.80% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several brokerages have recently issued reports on VRNA. Truist Financial lifted their price target on Verona Pharma from $38.00 to $44.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 9th. Canaccord Genuity Group lifted their target price on shares of Verona Pharma from $37.00 to $44.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday. Wells Fargo & Company initiated coverage on shares of Verona Pharma in a research note on Thursday, October 3rd. They set an “overweight” rating and a $50.00 price target on the stock. Finally, HC Wainwright reaffirmed a “buy” rating and issued a $36.00 price objective on shares of Verona Pharma in a research note on Tuesday, October 1st. Six analysts have rated the stock with a buy rating, Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Buy” and a consensus price target of $40.50.

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.