Curis, Inc. (NASDAQ:CRIS) Short Interest Down 48.1% in August

Curis, Inc. (NASDAQ:CRIS) saw a significant decline in short interest in the month of August. As of August 31st, there was short interest totaling 168,213 shares, a decline of 48.1% from the August 15th total of 324,276 shares. Based on an average trading volume of 177,225 shares, the short-interest ratio is currently 0.9 days. Currently, 8.5% of the shares of the company are short sold.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities analysts have recently weighed in on the company. HC Wainwright reiterated a “buy” rating on shares of Curis in a research note on Monday, August 17th. Wall Street Zen upgraded Curis from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Saturday, August 22nd. Zacks Research upgraded Curis from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Wednesday, September 9th. Finally, Weiss Ratings reissued a “sell (e+)” rating on shares of Curis in a research report on Friday, July 17th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Buy rating, one has assigned a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $43.00.

Curis Stock Performance

Shares of Curis stock traded up $0.01 on Tuesday, reaching $1.13. 156,704 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 123,473. The firm’s 50 day moving average is $3.13 and its 200-day moving average is $8.91. The firm has a market cap of $2.36 million, a PE ratio of -0.08 and a beta of 3.01. Curis has a one year low of $1.08 and a one year high of $35.84.

Curis (NASDAQ:CRIS) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Friday, August 14th. The biotechnology company reported ($4.02) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of ($6.95) by $2.93. Curis had a negative return on equity of 2,365.94% and a negative net margin of 80.29%. On average, equities research analysts expect that Curis will post -15.65 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Institutional Trading of Curis

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Stonepine Capital Management LLC bought a new stake in Curis during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $1,729,292,000. Nantahala Capital Management LLC bought a new position in shares of Curis in the 2nd quarter worth about $1,033,171,000. Cable Car Capital LP bought a new stake in Curis in the second quarter worth approximately $696,000. Renaissance Technologies LLC lifted its position in shares of Curis by 52.2% during the 1st quarter. Renaissance Technologies LLC now owns 366,740 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $201,000 after acquiring an additional 125,823 shares during the period. Finally, Flputnam Investment Management Co. acquired a new position in shares of Curis during the second quarter valued at about $128,000. 29.97% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

About Curis

Curis, Inc is a biotechnology company focused on the discovery, development and commercialization of targeted small molecule and antibody therapeutics for the treatment of cancer. The company’s research centers on exploiting key signaling pathways and tumor microenvironment interactions to develop compounds with the potential to address unmet medical needs. Curis’ proprietary pipeline includes multiple programs at various stages of clinical and preclinical development, reflecting its emphasis on innovative oncology drug candidates.

Among Curis’ lead assets is CA-4948, an oral inhibitor of interleukin-1 receptor–associated kinase 4 (IRAK4) partnered with Ikena Oncology, which is being evaluated in hematologic malignancies and solid tumors.