Benitec Biopharma (NASDAQ:BNTC) Coverage Initiated at Evercore

Stock analysts at Evercore assumed coverage on shares of Benitec Biopharma (NASDAQ:BNTC) in a report issued on Tuesday, MarketBeat.com reports. The brokerage set an “outperform” rating and a $25.00 price target on the biotechnology company’s stock. Evercore’s price target would indicate a potential upside of 114.59% from the company’s previous close.

BNTC has been the subject of several other research reports. TD Cowen reissued a “buy” rating on shares of Benitec Biopharma in a report on Monday, March 9th. HC Wainwright reaffirmed a “buy” rating and issued a $32.00 target price on shares of Benitec Biopharma in a research note on Monday, March 9th. Weiss Ratings reiterated a “sell (d-)” rating on shares of Benitec Biopharma in a research report on Monday, April 20th. Finally, Wall Street Zen cut shares of Benitec Biopharma from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research note on Saturday, February 14th. Six investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, one has issued a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $27.00.

Benitec Biopharma Trading Down 1.6%

Shares of Benitec Biopharma stock opened at $11.65 on Tuesday. The company’s 50-day moving average price is $11.81 and its 200-day moving average price is $12.34. Benitec Biopharma has a 12-month low of $9.85 and a 12-month high of $17.15. The company has a market cap of $400.18 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of -10.22 and a beta of 0.28.

Benitec Biopharma (NASDAQ:BNTC) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, February 12th. The biotechnology company reported ($0.26) earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of ($0.23) by ($0.03). On average, sell-side analysts predict that Benitec Biopharma will post -1.04 earnings per share for the current year.

Institutional Trading of Benitec Biopharma

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the company. BNP Paribas Financial Markets boosted its stake in shares of Benitec Biopharma by 44.5% in the 3rd quarter. BNP Paribas Financial Markets now owns 2,937 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $41,000 after purchasing an additional 904 shares in the last quarter. Truvestments Capital LLC lifted its stake in Benitec Biopharma by 156.5% in the fourth quarter. Truvestments Capital LLC now owns 3,834 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $52,000 after purchasing an additional 2,339 shares during the last quarter. Russell Investments Group Ltd. bought a new stake in Benitec Biopharma in the third quarter worth $79,000. JPMorgan Chase & Co. purchased a new stake in Benitec Biopharma during the second quarter valued at about $80,000. Finally, Bank of America Corp DE boosted its position in Benitec Biopharma by 2,255.8% during the second quarter. Bank of America Corp DE now owns 6,879 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $80,000 after buying an additional 6,587 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 52.19% of the company’s stock.

Benitec Biopharma Company Profile

Benitec Biopharma Ltd (NASDAQ: BNTC) is a clinical-stage biotechnology company developing gene-silencing therapies for serious human diseases. The company’s proprietary DNA-directed RNA interference (ddRNAi) platform is designed to enable sustained expression of small RNA molecules that specifically target and silence disease-causing genes. By integrating RNAi sequences directly into DNA constructs, ddRNAi aims to provide a long-term therapeutic effect from a single administration.

Benitec’s lead programs include development of ddRNAi candidates for chronic hepatitis B virus infection and for certain ocular conditions.