HC Wainwright Issues Optimistic Forecast for DURECT Earnings

DURECT Co. (NASDAQ:DRRX) – Analysts at HC Wainwright upped their FY2024 EPS estimates for DURECT in a research note issued on Thursday, November 14th. HC Wainwright analyst E. Arce now expects that the specialty pharmaceutical company will post earnings of ($0.63) per share for the year, up from their previous estimate of ($1.07). HC Wainwright has a “Neutral” rating on the stock. The consensus estimate for DURECT’s current full-year earnings is ($0.64) per share. HC Wainwright also issued estimates for DURECT’s Q4 2024 earnings at ($0.14) EPS, Q1 2025 earnings at ($0.14) EPS, Q2 2025 earnings at ($0.15) EPS, Q3 2025 earnings at ($0.16) EPS, Q4 2025 earnings at ($0.14) EPS, FY2025 earnings at ($0.60) EPS, FY2026 earnings at ($0.31) EPS, FY2027 earnings at $0.67 EPS and FY2028 earnings at $3.07 EPS.

Separately, StockNews.com started coverage on shares of DURECT in a research report on Tuesday. They set a “sell” rating on the stock.

DURECT Trading Up 6.3 %

DURECT stock opened at $0.98 on Monday. DURECT has a 12-month low of $0.48 and a 12-month high of $1.88. The firm has a market capitalization of $30.42 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of -1.61 and a beta of 1.13. The firm has a 50 day moving average of $1.33 and a 200 day moving average of $1.37.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. International Assets Investment Management LLC grew its holdings in DURECT by 41.3% during the 2nd quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 21,550 shares of the specialty pharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $28,000 after buying an additional 6,300 shares in the last quarter. Accredited Investors Inc. bought a new position in shares of DURECT during the 2nd quarter valued at about $113,000. Geode Capital Management LLC grew its position in shares of DURECT by 4.8% during the third quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 319,905 shares of the specialty pharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $429,000 after purchasing an additional 14,658 shares in the last quarter. Gagnon Securities LLC increased its holdings in shares of DURECT by 6.0% in the first quarter. Gagnon Securities LLC now owns 380,131 shares of the specialty pharmaceutical company’s stock worth $460,000 after purchasing an additional 21,425 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Richmond Brothers Inc. lifted its position in shares of DURECT by 39.5% in the second quarter. Richmond Brothers Inc. now owns 1,072,014 shares of the specialty pharmaceutical company’s stock worth $1,383,000 after buying an additional 303,670 shares in the last quarter. 28.03% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

DURECT Company Profile

DURECT Corporation, a biopharmaceutical company, develops medicines based on its epigenetic regulator program. The company's lead product larsucosterol (DUR-928), an endogenous, orally bioavailable small molecule that is in Phase IIb clinical trial to play a regulatory role in lipid metabolism, stress and inflammatory responses, and cell death and survival to treat alcohol-associated hepatitis, as well as completed Phase Ib clinical trial to treat patients with nonalcoholic steatohepatitis.