TELA Bio, Inc. (NASDAQ:TELA) Short Interest Up 19.6% in March

TELA Bio, Inc. (NASDAQ:TELA) was the recipient of a large increase in short interest in the month of March. As of March 31st, there was short interest totaling 690,940 shares, an increase of 19.6% from the March 15th total of 577,693 shares. Based on an average daily volume of 238,908 shares, the short-interest ratio is presently 2.9 days. Currently, 1.6% of the shares of the company are sold short.

TELA Bio Stock Performance

Shares of TELA stock traded down $0.05 during midday trading on Friday, hitting $0.68. The company had a trading volume of 51,856 shares, compared to its average volume of 181,860. The company’s 50 day simple moving average is $0.74 and its 200 day simple moving average is $1.04. TELA Bio has a 52-week low of $0.50 and a 52-week high of $2.20. The stock has a market cap of $30.47 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of -0.82 and a beta of 0.99. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 8.82, a current ratio of 4.20 and a quick ratio of 3.59.

TELA Bio (NASDAQ:TELA) last released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, March 24th. The company reported ($0.16) earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of ($0.18) by $0.02. The company had revenue of $20.87 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $21.04 million. TELA Bio had a negative return on equity of 433.58% and a negative net margin of 48.37%. Research analysts anticipate that TELA Bio will post -1.37 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities analysts recently issued reports on the stock. Weiss Ratings reiterated a “sell (e+)” rating on shares of TELA Bio in a research note on Thursday, January 22nd. Piper Sandler cut their price objective on TELA Bio from $1.25 to $1.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, March 25th. Citizens Jmp cut their price objective on TELA Bio from $5.00 to $3.00 and set a “market outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, March 27th. Lake Street Capital cut their price objective on TELA Bio from $3.00 to $2.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, March 25th. Finally, Canaccord Genuity Group decreased their price target on TELA Bio from $4.00 to $2.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, March 25th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, one has issued a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, TELA Bio currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $2.20.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On TELA Bio

A number of institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in TELA. XTX Topco Ltd acquired a new stake in TELA Bio during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $48,000. Renaissance Technologies LLC raised its stake in TELA Bio by 101.4% during the fourth quarter. Renaissance Technologies LLC now owns 128,700 shares of the company’s stock valued at $152,000 after buying an additional 64,800 shares in the last quarter. Susquehanna International Group LLP raised its stake in TELA Bio by 551.2% during the third quarter. Susquehanna International Group LLP now owns 85,763 shares of the company’s stock valued at $128,000 after buying an additional 72,594 shares in the last quarter. Citadel Advisors LLC increased its stake in TELA Bio by 161.3% during the third quarter. Citadel Advisors LLC now owns 35,281 shares of the company’s stock valued at $53,000 after purchasing an additional 21,781 shares during the last quarter. Finally, WealthTrust Axiom LLC increased its stake in TELA Bio by 39.1% during the fourth quarter. WealthTrust Axiom LLC now owns 322,588 shares of the company’s stock valued at $381,000 after purchasing an additional 90,650 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 94.35% of the company’s stock.

TELA Bio Company Profile

TELA Bio, Inc (NASDAQ: TELA) is a commercial‐stage medical technology company headquartered in Malvern, Pennsylvania. The company is focused on developing, manufacturing and commercializing regenerative medicine and advanced soft tissue repair solutions. By integrating proprietary biomaterials and processing technologies, TELA Bio aims to offer products that support the body’s natural healing processes in wound closure, hernia repair, reconstructive surgery and other surgical specialties.

The company’s product portfolio includes acellular dermal matrices, hemostatic agents and tissue scaffold systems.