Short Interest in Spero Therapeutics, Inc. (NASDAQ:SPRO) Increases By 27.9%

Spero Therapeutics, Inc. (NASDAQ:SPRO) saw a significant growth in short interest in the month of December. As of December 15th, there was short interest totaling 1,056,013 shares, a growth of 27.9% from the November 30th total of 825,698 shares. Approximately 2.0% of the company’s stock are short sold. Based on an average daily trading volume, of 300,621 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is presently 3.5 days. Based on an average daily trading volume, of 300,621 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is presently 3.5 days. Approximately 2.0% of the company’s stock are short sold.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities research analysts have recently commented on SPRO shares. Zacks Research downgraded Spero Therapeutics from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Monday, October 13th. Weiss Ratings restated a “sell (d-)” rating on shares of Spero Therapeutics in a research note on Wednesday, October 8th. Finally, Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of Spero Therapeutics from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Sunday, December 14th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Buy rating, one has issued a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $5.00.

Insider Activity

In related news, insider Esther Rajavelu sold 40,270 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Friday, November 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $2.37, for a total transaction of $95,439.90. Following the sale, the insider directly owned 869,450 shares in the company, valued at $2,060,596.50. This trade represents a 4.43% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. 5.50% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Invesco Ltd. acquired a new stake in shares of Spero Therapeutics during the second quarter worth $43,000. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP bought a new position in Spero Therapeutics during the third quarter worth about $55,000. Quadrature Capital Ltd acquired a new stake in Spero Therapeutics in the 2nd quarter worth about $90,000. Axxcess Wealth Management LLC bought a new stake in Spero Therapeutics in the 2nd quarter valued at about $94,000. Finally, Capital Asset Advisory Services LLC bought a new stake in Spero Therapeutics in the 2nd quarter valued at about $94,000. 25.60% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Spero Therapeutics Stock Performance

Shares of SPRO stock opened at $2.33 on Friday. Spero Therapeutics has a 52 week low of $0.51 and a 52 week high of $3.22. The company has a market capitalization of $131.27 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of -2.95 and a beta of 1.46. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $2.35 and a 200 day simple moving average of $2.32.

Spero Therapeutics (NASDAQ:SPRO) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, November 13th. The company reported ($0.13) earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of ($0.25) by $0.12. Spero Therapeutics had a negative net margin of 108.11% and a negative return on equity of 125.91%. The firm had revenue of $5.44 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $12.00 million. Sell-side analysts forecast that Spero Therapeutics will post -1.2 EPS for the current year.

Spero Therapeutics Company Profile

Spero Therapeutics is a clinical‐stage biopharmaceutical company focused on the discovery and development of novel therapies to address multidrug‐resistant bacterial infections. Headquartered in Boston, Massachusetts, the company aims to advance a pipeline of oral and intravenous antibiotic candidates designed to treat serious infectious diseases that pose significant public health challenges.

The company’s lead candidate, tebipenem HBr, is an oral carbapenem antibiotic being developed for the treatment of complicated urinary tract infections caused by resistant Gram‐negative pathogens.