ESSA Pharma Inc. (NASDAQ:EPIX) Sees Large Increase in Short Interest

ESSA Pharma Inc. (NASDAQ:EPIX) (TSE:EPI) was the recipient of a significant increase in short interest in December. As of December 15th, there was short interest totalling 951,500 shares, an increase of 37.6% from the November 30th total of 691,500 shares. Based on an average daily trading volume, of 874,500 shares, the short-interest ratio is presently 1.1 days.

ESSA Pharma Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ EPIX traded up $0.05 during trading on Monday, reaching $1.80. The stock had a trading volume of 1,860,430 shares, compared to its average volume of 307,796. The stock has a market cap of $79.90 million, a PE ratio of -2.90 and a beta of 1.62. ESSA Pharma has a one year low of $1.40 and a one year high of $11.67. The firm’s 50 day moving average price is $2.31 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $4.38.

ESSA Pharma (NASDAQ:EPIX) (TSE:EPI) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, December 17th. The company reported ($0.14) earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of ($0.19) by $0.05. On average, research analysts expect that ESSA Pharma will post -0.7 earnings per share for the current year.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several analysts have issued reports on the stock. Piper Sandler downgraded shares of ESSA Pharma from an “overweight” rating to a “neutral” rating and lowered their price objective for the company from $15.00 to $2.00 in a research report on Monday, November 4th. Jefferies Financial Group downgraded ESSA Pharma from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Monday, November 4th. Finally, Oppenheimer lowered ESSA Pharma from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating in a research note on Monday, November 4th.

Insider Buying and Selling at ESSA Pharma

In other news, major shareholder Growth N. V. Biotech sold 7,879,583 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, November 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $1.53, for a total value of $12,055,761.99. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. 14.70% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On ESSA Pharma

A hedge fund recently raised its stake in ESSA Pharma stock. Parkman Healthcare Partners LLC raised its stake in ESSA Pharma Inc. (NASDAQ:EPIX) (TSE:EPI) by 37.2% in the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 345,902 shares of the company’s stock after acquiring an additional 93,830 shares during the period. Parkman Healthcare Partners LLC owned 0.78% of ESSA Pharma worth $2,096,000 as of its most recent SEC filing. 75.12% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

ESSA Pharma Company Profile

ESSA Pharma Inc, a clinical stage pharmaceutical company, focuses the development of small molecule drugs for the treatment of prostate cancer. The company’s lead candidate EPI-7386, an androgen receptor based resistance mechanisms that develop in patients with castration-resistant prostate cancer and metastatic castration-resistant prostate cancer.